Clippers seventh straight loss landed in the cruelest way possible. Klay Thompson’s corner 3-pointer with one second left in overtime lifted the Miami Heat past the Los Angeles Clippers 117-116 on Wednesday at Intuit Dome, dropping Los Angeles to 1-7. The Clippers led by 20 late in the second quarter, led by nine entering the fourth and still led 116-112 in overtime after Darius Garland’s late surge. Bam Adebayo’s baseline screen freed Thompson, Giannis Antetokounmpo inbounded, and Kobe Sanders got hung up. Miami walked out 3-5. The Clippers have not won since beating Sacramento in the Oct. 21 opener.
Infanity TV’s Max Strus short, above, captures the veteran wing’s mindset as the Clippers try to climb out of the early hole.
How a 20-point lead disappeared
Los Angeles outscored Miami 43-19 in the second quarter and looked every bit like a team ready for win No. 2. Rui Hachimura finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in his return to a full workload. Derrick Jones Jr. added 12 points and eight rebounds. Brook Lopez scored 20 with eight boards and protected the rim against Antetokounmpo. Garland led the Clippers with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting and seven assists, including the bucket that made it 116-112 in overtime. Kris Dunn played 35 minutes of defense. Gradey Dick and Baba Miller had short bursts off the bench.
Then the fourth quarter arrived. Miami closed regulation on a 16-6 run from the 5:04 mark, per the NBA’s game recap. The Heat attacked the paint, forced mistakes and got to the line. Hachimura missed the first free throw of a late pair and made the second to force overtime. In the extra period the Clippers again led for long stretches before Thompson’s eighth 3-pointer of the night ended it. Thompson finished with 30 points on 8-of-17 shooting from deep, his first 30-point game since April 2024 with Golden State and his first eight-triple game since December 2023. Adebayo set season highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds and later called the screen that freed Thompson “probably my best screen, for sure.” Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and said Bam “was able to get him wide open.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thompson “had great timing” and that the group had finally “earned” some late-game karma after a 0-4 start. For the Clippers, the film will look like a win that slipped through their hands.
Tyronn Lue: “We’re close”
“No, we’re close,” coach Tyronn Lue said afterward. “Just not finishing the game, like you said, and just turnovers, you know, in the fourth quarter.” He pointed to a late regulation possession when the Clippers led by one and turned it over into a foul situation. “So just little things like that.”
Lue said the Clippers shot well enough to win — they made 16 threes and shot about 48 percent from the field — but failed to secure the ball. “When you shoot good from the field, you shoot good from three, if you just take back six of those turnovers, you know, seven of those turnovers,” he said. “We understand what’s put us behind the eight ball. It is our turnovers on a nightly basis.” On the final play, Lue said Sanders “got hung up on the screen” and that the plan was to shade the corner pass. “But good play,” Lue said. “He made the shot.” He also praised Garland for “some huge shots down the stretch.”
Rookie Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick in the 2026 draft, scored 11 points in only 16 minutes and finished plus-15. Asked why the minutes were limited compared with his season average near 25, Lue said, “That’s just what I felt like.” Max Strus went 3 of 11, and Lue noted an open corner look that did not fall. “We played pretty well,” Lue said. “Good enough to win the game. It just didn’t go our way tonight.”
Injuries and the next chance
Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal, Jordan Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhauser remain out. The official inactive list for Wednesday listed Ingram with right heel surgery, Beal with right knee injury management, Miller with left rotator cuff surgery and Niederhauser with right Lisfranc surgery. Those are the designations on the scorer’s report; some injury roundups still say Achilles for Ingram, which we flag below.
The Clippers host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. PST at Intuit Dome. After that they visit the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 10 and host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 13. Another home date against a Western Conference opponent is the clearest path to ending the skid before Oklahoma City arrives. Los Angeles is 1-3 at home and 0-4 on the road. The offense has shown enough punch to lead by 20. The closing habits have not. If Los Angeles protects the ball for 48 minutes instead of 40, the same roster that outscored Miami by 24 in a single quarter is good enough to climb out of 1-7. Sunday is the next test of whether “close” becomes a win.
Notes and conflicts
- Turnovers. The official NBA scorer’s report lists 26 turnovers for the Clippers. Some postgame writeups cited 18 or 20. We use the official box (26) and note the conflict.
- Ingram. The scorer’s report says right heel surgery. Several injury feeds still say Achilles. Unconfirmed which label the team prefers publicly.
- Wagler minutes. Lue did not give a schematic reason beyond what he “felt” and “saw” in the game.
- Heat travel. Miami played at Golden State on Thursday and won 120-100, so the Clippers’ loss was the first stop on a Heat West Coast swing that continued the next night.
- Strus availability. Strus played 23 minutes and is not listed as injured; earlier “foot” notes from other outlets are not repeated here without team confirmation.
- Plus-minus flash. Wagler’s plus-15 in limited minutes is a sample-size note, not a verdict on the rotation.
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