Miami Heat, sans Bosh, beat the LA Clippers 111-89 in Chris Pauls return
“We had two of our best players out. Everyone had to play every above their level offensively and defensively, and everyone did that,” LeBron James said.
The LA Clippers had plenty of reasons to rejoice while heading into this game. The Heat were missing Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, both of whom were sidelined with the flu, while their injured players were back for this one. Chris Paul‘s bruised right kneecap didn’t stop him, Chauncey Billups’ left foot tendonities wouldn’t prevent him from playing and Blake Griffin beat a strained left hamstring to play this one.
They couldn’t beat the Heat though as these three only combined for 23 points. Usually any one of them scores 23. The Miami Heat quickly took away any reason for the Clippers to rejoice for as they drubbed them with a 22 point win. The Heat took this one 111-89 behind another virtuoso performance by LeBron James.
The King finished with 30 points on 9 for 11 shooting an added 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and he sat out the entire fourth quarter. “We try to come up with new superlatives every single game,” Spoelstra said. “He’s the best player in the game.” That he is, no other player this season has scored 30 or more on 11 or fewer shots.
He was a little shaken up after getting hit by DeAndre Jordan in the face after which the Clippers cut the Miami lead to 10 points at 64-54. That riled James up and three minutes after that play, the Miami Heat led by 24 points on a flurry of baskets from James and Wade. When the dust had settled, the Heat led 78-54.
“Our guys came in, no question, with an aggressive, confident disposition,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “(They) really set the tone defensively in the first half, and then obviously knocking down the threes helped.”
This win gave the Miami Heat the best home record in the Eastern Conference with 21-3. They improved to 33-14 overall while the Clippers dropped to 35-17. The Clippers had four players in double figures. DeAndre Jordan led the way with 17 points on 7 for 11 shooting and added 6 rebounds. Blake Griffin had 13 on 5 for 7 shooting with 5 rebounds and he turned the ball over four times. Chris Paul shot only 1 for 5 to finish with 3 points and 2 assists with 3 turnovers.
Perhaps, it would have been better if Eric Bledsoe had started. Coming off the bench, Bledsoe had 7 points and 6 assists in 28 minutes of action. Jamal Crawford had 13 points and 3 assists on 6 for 15 shooting. Matt Barnes added 10 points on 4-9 shooting.
For the Heat, Udonis Haslem crossed a personal milestone of 5,000 rebounds today. The Heat shot 52.9% from the field as a whole and the Clippers only shot 44.2%. Five Heat players finished in double figures. Dwyane Wade chipped in with 20 points on 8 for 1 shooting with 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Mario Chalmers outplayed Chris Paul as he finished with 18 points on 5-9 shooting and added 3 assists and 3 rebounds.
Rashard Lewis came off the bench to score 10 points on 3 for 7 shooting. The Heat burned the Clippers from 3 point range. They sunk in 15 of their 27 attempts from downtown while holding the Clippers to 7 for 16. “The spacing was terrific, and the ball was moving and finding the open guy,” Spoelstra said. The Heat also attempted a lot more free throws, they shot 24-32 from the charity stripe, to 14-19 of the Clippers.
The Heat play the Lakers next on 11th. “We have to come out with the same aggression that we did tonight,” James said. “That Laker team wants to get some get-back because we beat them on their home floor.” James has been on fire of late, going 43 for 59 in the last four games.
“It’s in the flow of things,” James said .”I’m not even thinking about it. I’m just in a confident place right now.” The Lakers will be thinking about it, they just beat the Bobcats after being down by 20 points, they can’t try that with the Miami Heat.