J.J. Redick scored the first basket of the game for the Los Angeles Clippers, who then went to miss their next 14 shots in a row.
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The Clippers kept building on that lead, and when the Heat cut their deficit to two points in the third quarter, the Clippers followed with an 8-0 run, sparked by Paul and Jordan’s pick-and-roll play.
NOTES: Clippers backup PG Pablo Prigioni, who took a shot to the jaw in Friday’s game at the Orlando Magic, returned to action off the bench and had two points in 14 minutes….
Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic all scored 17 points for Miami, which missed a chance to finish the day fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Heat come from a 98-95 road-win at Charlotte, in which Hassan Whiteside had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks for his fourth triple-double. Whiteside (11.1) sits fifth in the National Basketball Association in rebounding average but leads the pack in blocks (4.02) while Jordan (2.25) entered the weekend ranked third, and Jordan (.716) and Whiteside (.616) rank first and second in field-goal percentage. Paul has faced the Heat 19 times, and his teams are 13-6 in those games.
“It’s obvious we’re not like a big 3-point shooting team”.
“It’s really nice of the National Basketball Association to have us play today and then travel during the Super Bowl”, Doc Rivers said.
The Miami Heat’s recent surge is about to get a pair of major tests prior to the All-Star break. The Nuggets won in NY on Sunday afternoon and play at Brooklyn on Monday, so they were staying put and could watch the Broncos without any issues.
“We had struggles of our own”, Wade said when asked why Miami didn’t extend its lead further.
The Heat closed the first period up 19-15, with both coaches intentionally fouling at the end of the period, with Jordan 0 for 4 from the line in the first period and Whiteside 1 of 2. Deng has scored at least 15 points in five of his last six games.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (33-17): Jordan is shouldering a bigger burden with Blake Griffin (broken hand) out, and Los Angeles is getting contributions from a host of different players. Pierce had failed to score more than five points in any of his five previous games, including a scoreless 16 minutes against Chicago on January 31. They changed planes in order to have satellite television access so they wouldn’t miss any of the Carolina-Denver game.
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Austin Rivers is the latest Clippers to suffer an injury, as a MRI on Saturday revealed a fracture in his left hand, the team announced Sunday morning.
