Strong CP3 finish lifts Clippers vs Heat

MIAMI – Chris Paul had the worst possible start to his shooting day.

His finish, however, was perfect.

Paul’s consecutive 3-pointers in the final minutes were daggers to a Miami comeback, and his game-high 22 points helped the Los Angeles Clippers hang on to beat the Heat 100-93 on Sunday.

J.J. Redick scored 14 points, Wesley Johnson had 10 and DeAndre Jordan and Cole Aldrich grabbed 11 rebounds each for the Clippers, who won despite a 1-for-15 start from the field and swept the two-game season series with Miami.

Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic all scored 17 points for Miami, which missed a chance to finish the day fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. The loss sent the Heat to fifth, a half-game behind Atlanta.

Luol Deng added 15 points for Miami, and Hassan Whiteside finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Paul was 0 for 7 in the opening period, the worst one-quarter shooting performance of his NBA career, and was 0 for 9 before he finally got a shot to fall. But his 3-pointers in the fourth snuffed out a Miami rally, and his lob that set up Jordan for a dunk was the clincher for the Clippers – who, after that horrid start, shot 55 percent the rest of the way.

Redick made a layup on the game’s first possession – and then the Clippers proceeded to misfire on their next 14 shots, even coming up empty on one possession where a 3-on-1 break led to nothing better than a 20-footer from the baseline that clanged off the rim.

Miami went to the oft-used Hack-a-DeAndre strategy in the third quarter to slow the Clippers’ offense and put their center in his least favorite spot, the free throw line. And while it worked to a point – Jordan went 3 for 10 from the line in the quarter – his success rate from there was better than Miami’s from the field in that quarter.