For a shooter whose reputation rests on threes late in games, Klay Thompson had never finished one this way, not in the regular season and not in the playoffs. On Wednesday night at Intuit Dome, with one second left in overtime and the Miami Heat down two, he got it in the spot he says he has shot from tens of thousands of times: the left corner.
The 117-116 overtime win over the Clippers was Thompson’s first career game-winning three in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime, regular season and playoffs combined. He went 8-of-17 from beyond the arc and finished with 30 points, his first 30-point game since 7 April 2024 as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Giannis finds Thompson in the corner
With 3.8 seconds to play in overtime and Miami down two, Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled down the defensive rebound that gave the Heat possession. Erik Spoelstra called timeout. From the inbounds spot, Antetokounmpo threw to Thompson as he ran off a Bam Adebayo screen into the left corner. Feet set, pass caught, shot up, through.
“I felt like I had so much space. I’m not going to say that’s an easy shot for me, but I’ve taken so many tens of thousands of corner threes, especially from the left corner for a right handed shooter, it’s probably the easiest shot from the perimeter on the court for a righty like myself. I just got my feet down, planted, and I took it and it just felt really good off my fingertips,” Thompson told Yahoo Sports.
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A reckless heave from three-quarters court on the Clippers’ final possession fell short with one second left on the clock.
Spoelstra credits off-court work
The Heat coach pointed back to the hours Thompson has put in away from the floor.
“You can fight Father Time and he’s doing it. He’s putting in a ton of time on his body, getting in shape, and that’s allowing him to show the skill set that he’s had throughout his Hall of Fame career,” Spoelstra said.
Thompson, speaking to Yahoo Sports afterwards, said he had no pain in his lower limbs and had not felt this good to start a season in years.
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Adebayo set season highs with 35 points and 10 rebounds. Antetokounmpo added 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. For the Clippers, Darius Garland finished with 26 points and seven assists, Rui Hachimura had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Brook Lopez added 20 points and eight rebounds.
From 20 down to a late rally
Miami had trailed by 20 late in the second quarter and were still behind in the closing minutes of the fourth before a late run forced overtime. The result was Miami’s third win in four games after the Heat opened the season 0-4.
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