LOS ANGELES – Chris Paul started cold, but finished hot as the point guard scored 22 points and the Los Angeles Clippers came from behind to defeat the Miami Heat 100-93 on Super Bowl Sunday at American Airlines arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Clippers started cold, with Chris Paul missing his first nine shots to start the game, the worst performance of his NBA career.
Los Angeles trailed by four at the end of the first quarter, but despite the sluggish start had a one-point lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
Paul overcame his poor start and dominated down the stretch, hitting back-to-back three-pointers in the waning minutes to put the Miami Heat away after they had gotten as close as three points in the final few minutes.
Paul finished with 22 points and 7 assists, Jamal Crawford chipped in 20 points off the bench. J.J. Redick added 14 points, Wesley Johnson had 10 and DeAndre Jordan dominated the glass with 11 rebounds.
Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and Goran Dragic each scored 17 points for the Heat in the loss, and fall to second place behind the Atlanta Hawks in the Southeast division.
TURNING POINT
Jamal Crawford hit a three-pointer with 6:14 remaining after the Heat had cut the lead from 10 points to just 3 points.
Sports
Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.
MVP OF THE GAME
Chris Paul. Paul finished with 22 points and 7 assists. CP3 hit back-to-back three-pointers in a 30-second span down the stretch and followed it up with two consecutive lobs to DeAndre Jordan.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Jamal Crawford missed a free throw for the first time in six games.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
DeAndre Jordan should not be able to jump like that. #nba #Clippers https://t.co/TkZXq9ys7r — Hubbard (@mkhubbard_) February 7, 2016
It's like his feet are a trampoline!
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT
Always a good game when @CP3 and @DwyaneWade go head-to-head. Who's tuning in? pic.twitter.com/CX790fYPlH — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 7, 2016
Game recognizes game.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"I just kept shooting it, sooner or later it has to go in." – Clippers point guard Chris Paul on his poor shooting start and hot finish.
NOTES
Chris Paul and John Stockton are the only two players to average 10+ assists and 2+ steals against the Heat…Lance Stephenson has shot 82.5 percent over the heat over the past five games…The Clippers announced that Austin Rivers would undergo surgery for a broken hand and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks….Chris Anderson and Tyler Johnson were out for Miami…Blake Griffin remained out with a hand injury for Los Angeles.
RECORD
Los Angeles Clippers (34-17, 17-9 on the road) 2nd in Pacific Division
Miami Heat (29-23, 16-10 at home) 2nd in the Southeast Division
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Clippers road trip continues on Monday night in Philadelphia as they look to make it three consecutive wins on the road.
Miami will host San Antonio at 8:00 PM EST on TNT on Tuesday night.
