LA Clippers, Chris Paul extend win streak to four vs. Heat, 98-86

The LA Clippers swept their season series on Sunday against the Miami Heat, stretching their current win streak to four games.

Chris Paul tallied 19 points and 18 assists in just 29 minutes of play to lead the LA Clippers (26-14) in extending their win streak to four against the Miami Heat (11-28) on Sunday, cruising past 98-86.

J.J. Redick was on fire, going 4-of-8 from deep for 25 points. Marreese Speights got buckets, scoring 19 points in only 14 minutes before fouling out late in the fourth. Brandon Bass provided some quality minutes, adding 12 points and four rebounds.

Goran Dragic scored 24 points, and Hassan Whiteside had 15 points and 13 rebounds. James Johnson and Tyler Johnson (no relation) both scored 12 points off the bench and provided some much-needed athleticism.

The Heat took a 3-0 lead before the Clippers went on a run to finish the first 20-19. Miami took a lead early in the second quarter until the offense caught up with the defense to take the lead for good. Paul had 11 points with 10 assists before the half was completed. So, he was pretty darn good. Redick finished the half with a high of 15 points of his 25 for the game. Clippers shot 47 percent for the half and held the Heat to 30 percent.

From the second quarter through the third the Clippers went on a 43-21 run to led by as much as 24 before the heat began to chip the lead away. Both teams were sloppy in the third as the Clippers’ offense went cold, shooting 36 percent while the Heat shot 40 percent. The Heat were plus-six in second chance points over the Clippers in the third.

The fourth turned into garbage time after four minutes before Paul and Redick were pulled for the rest of the night. The Heat shot 45 percent, but that number is a bit misleading for the fact that they didn’t hit a three for the quarter (0-7).

Once the Clippers got the lead it never looked like it was endanger to be taken away. The Heat made a few runs later in the game, but never got within single digits in the second half.

Waiters ejection in the third

Dion Waiters was ejected with 3:09 in the third after elbowing Redick in the back of the head after Redick was boxing out for a rebound. After the play the two began to argue before other broke it up. The referees took a look at the earlier play and decided to issue a Flagrant 2 on Waiters. It was an ejection that Waiters did not seem to agree with.

Jamal Crawford and inconsistency

This is the most inconsistent I have seen Jamal Crawford in his time with the Clippers. He scored two points on 12 shots. He was also 0-of-4 from deep and in the most recent games it’s been an up and down spell for Crawford. He has had some hot stretches, but more recently he has been inconsistent. Playing 31 minutes with only two points doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, but he is someone who can get hot in a second. It just did not come in this game.

Notes

Austin Rivers (flu) did not play.

Chris Paul dropped his 8,000th dime of his career in the game.

The Clippers won the season series 2-0..

Next: Yes, Austin can play, and he's improved

Up next

The LA Clippers host the Orlando Magic on January 11th in their last game of their season series. LA previously won in Orlando 113-108 on December 15th. The Clippers are playing better recently and have their superstar point guard back in the lineup.