The Miami Heat were staring at a mess in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, then somehow turned it into a 117-116 overtime win over the Clippers at the Intuit Dome.
Miami trailed by as many as 20 in the first half and looked like it might be headed for another ugly night in a rough start to the 2026-27 season. Instead, the Heat clawed all the way back, survived a shaky finish in regulation, and escaped with a result that kept things from getting much worse. The Clippers, meanwhile, had a chance to end a six-game losing streak and instead fell to 1-7.
Klay Thompson delivered the final blow. With 1.0 seconds left, he buried the game-winning three off a Giannis Antetokounmpo inbounds pass.
Thompson finished with 30 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block, going 11-22 from the field and 8-17 from deep. He also hit the three that tied the game at 112 with 2:12 left in overtime.
Antetokounmpo didn’t dominate the way he usually can, but he still filled the box score with 27 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and three blocks. Bam Adebayo was the other major reason Miami got out alive, putting together his best offensive night of the season with 35 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and one steal on 14-20 shooting.
Adebayo’s night was especially important because he has taken plenty of heat for his slow start. Now he’s rolling, averaging 25.5 points over his last four games. He also had a chance to end it in regulation, but missed a relatively easy jump shot in the final seconds.
The Clippers had every chance to finish this off before overtime ever happened. Rui Hachimura led them with 21 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and one steal, but he also missed a free throw in the final seconds of regulation that would have given the hosts the lead. That miss left the game tied and opened the door for the extra period.
Darius Garland put up a strong scoring line for Los Angeles with 26 points and seven assists, and he made several big threes. But the late-game mistakes piled up.
He finished with six turnovers, and the worst stretch came when the Clippers led 101-95 with 4:04 left in regulation. Garland had a layup blocked by Davion Mitchell, then turned it over on the next possession.
Later, he fouled Mitchell for an and-one, turned it over again right after, and then committed another turnover with the Clippers up 106-105 and under 20 seconds left.
Garland scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, but the damage had already been done.
Miami’s second quarter nearly buried it. The Heat led 33-24 after one, then watched the Clippers rip off a 26-2 run to open the second.
Los Angeles won the quarter 43-19, shot 16-22 from the floor and 8-13 from three in that stretch, and took a 67-52 lead into halftime. The Heat steadied themselves after that, though, and held the Clippers to just 40 points in the second half and nine in overtime.
The shooting numbers tell the same story. Miami finished 10-40 from three as a team, and everyone besides Thompson combined to go 2-23 from beyond the arc.
That kind of night usually gets you beat. Instead, the Heat found just enough from Adebayo, Thompson, and a late defensive turnaround to leave with a win.
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