The Miami HEAT fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 102-98 Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Goran Dragic led the way for the HEAT with 21 points.
1. J. Johnson At It Again
After playing just five and a half minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, James Johnson made sure his presence was felt in the third and fourth quarters. In fact, the versatile forward scored all 12 of his points after halftime and was an integral part in Miami's comeback bid. As he has throughout the HEAT's past few games, Johnson handled the ball quite a bit against the Clippers.
One of his best passes of the evening came at the beginning of the fourth. With 9:46 left in the period, Johnson noticed Dragic cutting inside thanks to a good screen from Josh Richardson. Once Johnson rifled it inside to the Slovenian, the point guard finished the rest with a tough layup over the outstretched arm of Mo Speights.
In addition to making plays in the half court like that, Johnson also pushed tempo and either assisted or converted buckets on the break. When it was all said and done, the 29-year-old grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists to go along with his 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
2. Winslow Gets Back in the Flow of Things
Although Justise Winslow got off to a slow start, he didn't let that deter him one bit. In fact, the 20-year-old bounced back with a 10-point second half in which he hit some nifty shots in the post. He also hit a huge corner three that cut the deficit to four with 22 seconds remaining.
On the flip side of the ball, Winslow defended Blake Griffin and Chris Paul at times in the fourth. In short, it was a strong all-around performance for the former Duke Blue Devil. Winslow finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, four rebounds and a steal.
3. Dragic The Playmaker
While Dragic didn't shoot quite as well as he's used to in the first half, he still set up his teammates very well. That said, the point guard started to get going from the field as the game progressed. After halftime, the Dragon scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting and dished out three assists.
One of his best plays of the contest came late in the third quarter. With 1:30 left in the period, Dragic hit Raymond Felton with the spin-move and attacked the basket thanks to a hard screen from Willie Reed. Once the point guard got into the paint, he maneuvered right past Speights and showed fancy footwork on the reverse layup.
Later in the game, Dragic hit two clutch free throws to cut the deficit to one with 10.5 seconds left. In addition to his 21 points, the 30-year-old also dished out a team-high 11 assists, grabbed six boards and came away with two steals.
4. Quick Start for Ellington
Wayne Ellington got off to a red-hot start against Los Angeles, as he scored nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first quarter. One of his niftier plays of the period came on a nice give-and-go with Hassan Whiteside. With 6:32 left in the first, Ellington faked the corner three and instead passed the ball to Whiteside. The center then hit the swingman as he was cutting along the baseline for the smooth reverse layup.
Ellington certainly made JJ Redick work on the defensive end throughout the contest, as he moved very well off the ball and knocked down a bunch of jumpers off the curl. Unfortunately, Ellington exited the game in the third quarter with a mild right hamstring strain and did not return. He finished with 13 points and two boards in 23 minutes.
Other Takeaways:
-Josh McRoberts certainly found the range on Friday night, as he knocked down three treys against the Clippers. In all, McRoberts scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting and dished out two assists.
Game Note:
-Tyler Johnson (illness) and Dion Waiters (pectineus tear) sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-Next up for the HEAT are the Boston Celtics on Sunday night at 6:00 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.
