It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't pretty, but the Miami Heat scored a big come-from-behind win over the LA Clippers on the road thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer from Klay Thompson.
Klay's game-winner with one second left in overtime helped seal a 117-116 win for the Heat. Klay finished with 30 points, hitting eight big 3-pointers on the night.
I'm not sure this is how the Heat drew up beating the Clippers, but a last-second win does sure beat losing in another disappointing fashion. Miami came back from down 15 points at halftime to earn their third win of the season. The Heat, as they prepare to face off against the Golden State Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back, now sit at 3-5 on the season.
There are some positives the Heat can draw out of LA
Despite the final scoreboard looking underwhelming, there were some positives that the Heat can find comfort in. For one, Klay continued to look strong. This is the third game in a row where it feels like Klay is beginning to find comfort in his role with the team.
Secondly, for the first time all season, Bam Adebayo led the team in scoring with 35 points. That aggression and efficiency are exactly what the Heat need to hit their stride. Thirdly, the Heat had their way with LA in three of the four quarters. They won the first, third, and fourth quarters by a combined 24 points.
Of course, it's not ideal that they lost the second quarter by 24 points, which is why they found themselves in an uphill battle in the second half and why they needed overtime to seal the win, but there are some positives there. The Heat dominated much of the game and held the Clippers to 40 total points in the third and fourth quarters.
If the Heat don't completely lay an egg in the second quarter, Miami likely blows out LA.
It should also be considered a positive that the Heat won despite shooting 25 percent from the 3-point range. Taking it a step further, non-Klay shooters on the Heat went 2-23 from deep on the night. It's difficult to win games with that level of inefficiency from 3-point range, but the Heat still found a way to beat a feisty Clippers team.
Beating the Clippers by one point isn't necessarily anything to brag about, but there are reasons for optimmsim when you look deeper at this game. The Heat are also 3-1 in their last four games. Now let's hope the Heat can continue building after this win.
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