Playing without Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley and Paul George, the Los Angeles Clippers got a game-high 32 points from Marcus Morris Sr. and held off the Miami Heat, 125-118, Monday in Los Angeles.
Ivica Zubac added 22 off the bench for L.A.
The Clippers, who came into Monday’s contest shooting an NBA-best 42.2 percent from 3-point range, went 15-of-32 against the Heat. Morris did his part in keeping them on pace when he scored 26 point in the first half, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Morris finished 6-of-8 from outside.
Amir Coffey made his first four 3-point attempts before halftime. He finished with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from long range.
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Luke Kennard knocked down a pair of important, late 3-pointers. He came off the bench and made back-to-back from outside, part of a 17-6 Clippers run that gave them a cushion down the stretch.
The two teams went back-and-forth most of the night, with Los Angeles leading by a point with 7:41 to go. The Clippers finished on a torrid offensive pace.
Kennard scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. Lou Williams scored seven of his 18 points in the final period.
The win is Los Angeles’ fourth straight, and second with a significantly depleted lineup.
George missed his sixth consecutive game with a foot injury. Leonard — the Clippers’ leading scorer on the season at 26.7 points per game — was a late scratch from the lineup before Sunday’s matchup with Cleveland due to a leg contusion.
Beverley scored 16 points on Sunday but was rested on Monday.
Bam Adebayo scored eight of his 27 points consecutively over a stretch lasting almost four minutes of the fourth quarter, then capped the run by finding Duncan Robinson for one of Adebayo’s seven assists.
Adebayo added a game-high 12 rebounds. Jimmy Butler recorded a triple-double with a team-high 30 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for the Heat. Tyler Herro came off the bench to score 27 points.
Miami fell to 1-2 near the midway point of a seven-game, Western Conference road swing.
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–Field Level Media