Heat Feels Good to Clippers

If not Wednesday, then when?

If not the Miami Heat, then....

These are indeed difficult times for the Clippers. There is zero margin for error. Especially when their starting center is on the injured list because of a bout with tendinitis in his left knee and their top two small forwards also are out because of ankle and knee injuries and their point guard is limping around on a sprained ankle.

Leaving nothing to chance, the Clippers jumped on the Heat early and paused only briefly before taking an 89-80 victory before 14,015 relieved customers at Staples Center.

The victory was only the Clippers’ fourth in 11 games at Staples and their seventh in 19 overall.

Without center Michael Olowokandi and forwards Corey Maggette and Lamar Odom, and with guard Andre Miller playing on a bum ankle, the Clippers kept it simple against the punchless Heat.

The Clippers went to Elton Brand on the low block again and again. When that failed, Eric Piatkowski stepped behind the three-point arc and made the Heat pay for collapsing on Brand.

Miller kept things moving smoothly despite a sprained ankle that had forced him to sit out Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Brand scored 25 points, took 13 rebounds and added five blocks. Piatkowski scored 18 points on six-for-13 shooting.

Miller had 13 points, including 11 in the first quarter, and added seven assists in 32 minutes. He did not play down the stretch, however.

“I am not going to complain about a win,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “At this stage, we’ve got to get a win any way we can. Elton played well. Andre gave us what he could. He’s still sore. He’s got to be really sore if I’ve got him sitting over there at the end of the game.”

The Heat went on a 15-6 run to start the fourth quarter but never got closer than nine points. Miami’s 33-for-88 shooting from the field (37.5%) and 10-for-23 shooting from the free-throw line (43.5%) was too much to overcome against the steady if unspectacular Clippers.

“We had control of the game for the entire game,” Brand said. “I’m glad we finished them off. This is a good win for us.”

The start was all too predictable, even with the Clippers hurting.

The Clippers, who never trailed, built a 12-2 lead against the Heat.

Miami, which went into the game shooting 40.2% and averaging a meager 83.7 points, was up to form from the start. The Heat is nothing without center Alonzo Mourning, sidelined indefinitely by a kidney illness.

By halftime, the Clippers held a 49-37 lead despite several lapses in intensity and interest. Miami used an 8-1 run to pull within 38-35 after Travis Best made a jump shot. But Piatkowski made a free throw and two three-pointers to lead an 11-2 Clipper surge to end the half.

With a 5-13 record, the Heat has looked for any advantage it can find. Monday, that meant Pat Riley used a zone defense for the first time in 21 years of coaching, and the Heat pulled out a 100-90 overtime victory over the Suns at Phoenix.

No dummy, Riley went to the zone again periodically against the Clippers. The Heat had its moments in the zone, especially during the second quarter, when the Clippers appeared tentative and befuddled at times on the perimeter.

Soon enough, thanks in part to Piatkowski’s sharp outside shooting, they extended their lead to double-digits by halftime. The advantage would swell to 18 in the fourth quarter, the last time at 79-61 after Brand’s medium-range jumper with 7:30 left.

“We’ve got to find a way to win games,” Gentry said. “Regardless if they’re ugly or pretty, right now we’ve just got to get our confidence up.”