Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic puts up a solid performance in a big loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Welcome to the Hot Hand, where after every Miami Heat game win or loss we recognize the player who best put his stamp on the game.
It’s probably a good thing that the Miami Heat finally get to leave Los Angeles. After a listless showing against the Lakers on Friday, Miami put up another dud on Sunday, this time while facing the Clippers. The Heat were outclassed from the opening tip, eventually losing by the final score of 98-86.
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In a game without many positives, Goran Dragic was one of the few bright spots. He scored 24 points on 50 percent shooting, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists. His play wasn’t perfect, as he did have five turnovers. It’s hard to fault him for that, though.
Dragic played a team-high 42 minutes, due to the team being without Josh Richardson (foot). For good measure, fellow ball-handler Dion Waiters was ejected after just 15 minutes of action, too. So the team lacked any good options at point guard, aside from Dragic.
Miami was able to keep the game relatively close early on. That was partially thanks to Dragic getting out in transition, and scoring easy buckets. Like this! (Convenient, I know.)
But Chris Paul and the Clippers were just too much. Paul had 19 points and 18 assists, doing a concerning amount of that damage with Dragic defending.
Also of note, Hassan Whiteside returned after missing four games with an eye injury. And, despite facing the reigning First Team All-NBA center DeAndre Jordan, had a nice outing. Whiteside scored 15 points to go with 13 rebounds and two blocks. He did show some rust, but overall, played well for Miami.
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The Heat return to action on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, they’re not coming back to the friendly confines of AmericanAirlines Arena quite yet, though. They have to travel to Oakland, to play Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Golden State Warriors. Feels almost cruel.
But, as I hope everyone has realized by now, losing is good. And Miami’s lost so much recently that they’re up to second in the race for worst record in the NBA. Thus, Tankathon currently gives them a 20 percent chance of landing the top pick, which would be much-needed good news for this franchise. At this point, the Heat would take good news any way they could get it.