The Miami Heat turned a cold start into a historic shooting night, tying a franchise record with 24 made 3-pointers and powering past the struggling Los Angeles Clippers 140–123 on Monday night. Behind a barrage of long-range shooting and a dominant second-quarter surge, Miami overwhelmed a Clippers team that continues to spiral.
Norman Powell torched his former team for 30 points, while Bam Adebayo delivered 27 points and 14 rebounds in just 32 minutes, helping Miami secure its fifth 140-point performance of the season—remarkably matching a feat the franchise reached only eight times in its first 37 years.
The Heat trailed by two early in the second quarter before unleashing a staggering 30–2 run that broke the game open. Miami shot 9-for-12 during the blitz while the Clippers missed all 11 of their attempts. Powell scored 11 points in that stretch, punctuating the explosion with back-to-back threes that had the Miami bench on its feet and the Clippers searching for answers.
From there, the Heat never looked back. Already leading by 20 at halftime, Miami detonated again to start the third quarter. In just 2:02, the Heat ripped off a 12–0 run—all on three-pointers. Adebayo, normally known for his interior presence, knocked down two of them as Miami stretched the lead to 32 and effectively put the game away.
The Heat’s 24 threes tie franchise marks previously set on two other occasions. Tyler Herro and Andrew Wiggins each added 22 points, giving Miami a balanced attack that the Clippers simply couldn’t counter.
The Clippers did not fold entirely. Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter, helping L.A. trim the deficit to as few as 12 with two minutes remaining. But Miami immediately slammed the door, scoring the next nine points—starting with a Herro three-point play and followed by triples from Powell and Wiggins.
Ivica Zubac contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Norman Powell provided his own offensive burst—but the rest of the roster sputtered.
James Harden finished with 11 points in 20 minutes and did not return for the final 22:34 of the game. His on-court minutes proved disastrous, as the Clippers were outscored by 39 points while he played.
The loss drops Los Angeles to 5–16, marking their worst 21-game start since opening 4–17 in the 2010–11 season. After a 3–2 start, the Clippers have now gone 2–14, sinking deeper into early-season chaos.
Miami, meanwhile, continues to showcase one of the NBA’s most explosive offenses. Their fifth 140-point performance of the season underscores how different—and more potent—this Heat team has become from previous eras defined by grinding defensive battles.
Clippers: Visit the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Heat: Travel to Dallas to face Luka Dončić and the Mavericks on Wednesday
