Klay Thompson Game-Winner Lifts Heat Past Clippers 117-116 in Overtime

The Klay Thompson game-winner with one second left in overtime gave the Miami Heat a 117-116 victory over the LA Clippers on Wednesday night at Intuit Dome, capping a rally from as many as 20 points down and lifting Miami to 3-5 on the season.

Thompson scored 30 points and made 8 of 17 3-pointers, according to the Associated Press report. Bam Adebayo set season highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. The Heat have now won three of their last four games after opening the year 0-4.

How the Heat Erased a 20-Point Deficit

For the first 24 minutes, this looked like another long night. The Clippers scored the first 10 points of the second quarter and ran off a 26-2 surge that included a 3-pointer by rookie guard Keaton Wagler for a 50-35 lead. Darius Garland made it 63-43 with 3:12 left in the half, and Los Angeles went to the locker room up 67-52 after a 43-19 second quarter.

The turnaround started on defense. According to Yahoo Sports, the Clippers shot 60% in the first half, then managed just 40 points on 35% shooting with eight turnovers across the third and fourth quarters. Giannis and Adebayo combined for 31 second-half points and 17 free-throw attempts, forcing the issue at the rim.

Miami was still down 10 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter before a 9-0 run pulled the Heat back into the game.

Overtime and the Final Possession

Regulation ended tied at 107 after a wild final two minutes. Adebayo's jumper gave Miami a one-point lead with 1:53 left, Garland answered with a layup, and Antetokounmpo made two free throws to put the Heat up one with 10.8 seconds to go. A reviewed foul call then sent Rui Hachimura to the line, where he split a pair, and Adebayo's last-second jumper missed.

In overtime, Garland hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:58 left and a floater that made it 116-112 with 1:19 remaining. Adebayo scored inside to cut the margin to two, and the Clippers never scored again. Antetokounmpo grabbed a defensive rebound with 3.8 seconds left, and after a Heat timeout he found Thompson open in the left corner for the winner. Kobe Sanders' heave at the buzzer missed.

The design of the play mattered as much as the shot. As described by Yahoo Sports, Thompson curled off an Adebayo screen that caught both Kobe Sanders and Brook Lopez, giving him a clean look. "That's probably my best screen," Adebayo said with a smile, per the Miami Herald's reporting. Thompson said he felt he had "so much space" and called the left-corner three the easiest shot on the perimeter for a right-hander like himself.

Why the Klay Thompson Game-Winner Matters for Miami

This was the loudest sign yet that Thompson is settling in. Yahoo Sports noted he missed more than two-thirds of his 3-point tries through his first five games as a Heat player. Over the last three games he is 19 of 36 from deep, and Wednesday was his first 30-point game in about two and a half years.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra credited the work behind the surge. "You can fight Father Time and he's doing it," Spoelstra said, according to reporting from The Athletic that Yahoo cited. Thompson said afterward that he has not felt this good to start a season in years. The Sporting News, citing StatKeks, reported it was the first game-winning 3-pointer of his career in the final five seconds of a game.

Here is our view: Thompson's shooting changes the math for everyone else. When defenders cannot sag off him, Antetokounmpo and Adebayo get more room to attack, which is exactly what the second half looked like. The caution is that Miami still needed a 20-point comeback against a team that had lost six straight. After allowing 79 first-half points to the Lakers, as we noted in our Heat vs. Clippers preview, slow starts remain the biggest question for this group.

Adebayo and Antetokounmpo Carry the Load

Adebayo's 35 points arrived just days after he passed Udonis Haslem as the franchise's all-time rebounding leader, a milestone we covered in our Bam Adebayo rebounding record story. Antetokounmpo's near triple-double, with 14 boards and six assists, kept Miami's offense organized when shots were not falling.

Depth is still thin on the scoring sheet. The Sporting News pointed out that only four Heat players reached double figures: Adebayo, Thompson, Antetokounmpo and Davion Mitchell, who finished with 11. Finding a fifth reliable scorer is one of the more important Miami Heat roster questions as the season moves along.

Clippers Searching for Answers

Los Angeles has lost seven straight since beating Sacramento on opening night Oct. 21. Garland led the Clippers with 26 points and seven assists, Hachimura had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Lopez added 20 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Ingram (Achilles) and Bradley Beal (knee) have yet to play this season, per the AP. The Clippers host New Orleans on Sunday night.

What Heat Fans Should Watch Next

The win came on the first night of a West Coast back-to-back. Miami was scheduled to play at Golden State on Thursday night at Chase Center, with Thompson facing his former team. This story covers Wednesday's game, and we will report on the Warriors matchup separately. Our Heat vs. Warriors preview has the background.

Beyond that game, watch three things: whether Miami can avoid another double-digit first-half hole, whether Thompson keeps his shot volume up now that he has found a rhythm, and whether Adebayo and Antetokounmpo can keep scoring efficiently without extra minutes. According to our earlier coverage, the Heat visit Sacramento on Sunday and Utah on Tuesday before a five-game homestand begins Nov. 13.

Want to catch up? Read our Lakers game recap and our recap of Miami's 145-125 win over the Pacers.

Follow Remix Sports Media for continuing Miami Heat news, game recaps and player updates all season long.