By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI (AP) — Norman Powell scored 30 points against his former team, Bam Adebayo had 27 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes and the Miami Heat downed the reeling Los Angeles Clippers, 140-123, on Monday night, Dec. 1.
Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins each scored 22 for the Heat, who trailed by two early in the second quarter before going on a 30-2 run. Miami also hit 24 3-pointers, tying a franchise record done on two previous occasions.
Miami went on a 12-0 run in the first 2:02 of the third quarter, all on 3-pointers, two of them by Adebayo. That turned a 20-point halftime lead into a 32-point edge and the outcome was not in serious doubt again.
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 and Ivica Zubac finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers. They started the season 3-2 and have gone 2-14 since, falling to 5-16 — the worst 21-game start for the franchise since a 4-17 beginning to the 2010-11 season.
James Harden scored 11 points for the Clippers in 20 minutes, and didn’t play in the final 22:34. The Clippers were outscored by 39 points when he was on the floor.
Powell had 11 points in the 30-2 spurt, one where Miami shot 9 for 12 while the Clippers missed all 11 of their shots. Back-to-back 3s by Powell finished off the run.
The Clippers made things a bit interesting in the fourth, with Leonard scoring 19 points in that quarter and getting his team within 12 with 2 minutes left. But Miami scored the next nine points — a three-point play by Herro, then 3-pointers from Powell and Wiggins to put the game away.
It was Miami’s fifth time reaching the 140-point mark this season, after getting there a total of eight times in the franchise’s first 37 seasons.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Dillon Brooks scored 33 points, Collin Gillespie added 16 of his career-high 28 in the fourth quarter, and the Phoenix Suns emphatically snapped the Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with a 125-108 victory.
Devin Booker scored 11 points before leaving with two minutes left in the first quarter with a right groin injury, yet the Suns improbably played a remarkable game in their leading scorer’s absence.
Gillespie hit a career-best eight 3-pointers for Phoenix, which had lost three of four. The Suns forced 22 Lakers turnovers and streaked to a 21-point lead in the third quarter, blowing out Los Angeles despite Luka Doncic’s 38 points.
Austin Reaves added 16 points for the Lakers, who were playing their third home game in four nights. Los Angeles was mostly listless after Doncic scored 20 points in yet another phenomenal first quarter.
LeBron James finished with 10 points, barely keeping alive his incredible streak of scoring in double digits in 1,297 consecutive regular-season games. James made a 3-pointer with 6:51 left to preserve the streak, which began Jan. 7, 2007 — less than three weeks after Cooper Flagg was born.
Brooks scored 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting in the first half, taking the offensive lead with Booker sidelined. Gillespie took control in the second half with a series of big perimeter shots.
