Miami Heat Aim to Avoid Fifth Straight Loss Against Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers visit the Miami Heat on the heels of a difficult loss in New Orleans as they play three road games in a four-day stretch on a short trip.

L.A. arrives in in eighth place in the Western Conference (35-30), 1.5 games ahead of Sacramento. The Clippers own a five-game cushion on the Phoenix Suns, currently 11th in the West and on the outside of the West playoff picture. They’re two back of sixth-place Golden State in their quest to avoid the play-in.

Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out of this back-to-back situation as has typically been the case and hasn't played on consecutive nights all season. Ironically, his first back-to-back last season came on March 14-15. 

Leonard played 36:19 in Tuesday's 127-120 loss to the Pelicans, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block on the heels of draining a game-winner in Sunday's OT victory over Sacramento.

Norman Powell (hamstring) and Ben Simmons (knee) have been out of the mix for the Clippers recently. Powell isn't expected to play on the trip, while Simmons may participate since his absence has been tied to load management. 

Powell led L.A. with 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting, hitting five 3-pointers, in a 109-98 win over the Heat on Jan. 13 in their first visit to the new Intuit Dome. James Harden added 26 points and 11 assists, while center Ivica Zubac finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds against a frontline that didn't include Bam Adebayo, who sat out due to injury. 

Rookie Kel'el Ware finished with 19 points and 13 boards off the bench behind Kevin Love, who made a rare start and matched a season-best with three 3-pointers. He's seen action three times this month but hasn't played since March 7. 

Miami has only ruled out Nikola Jovic (hand), listing Alec Burks (back) as questionable. Andrew Wiggins (ankle), Ware (knee), Terry Rozier (chest), Duncan Robinson (back), Haywood Highsmith (knee) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (ankle) have all been labeled as available on the Heat’s 1:30 p.m. ET injury report.

Erik Spoelstra’s team is looking to avoid what would be a season-long fifth straight loss. The Heat are 3-7 over their last 10. Miami’s last five games have all gone ‘under.’

The Clippers are just 4-7 SU since action resumed after the All-Star break and have seen four of their last five games go over the posted total. 

L.A. has beaten Miami in 13 of the last 19 meetings between the teams dating back to 2016, winning nine of the last 12.

Tony Mejia is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com