Maggette’s Shot Cools the Heat

Corey Maggette made sure that Shaquille O’Neal’s second Staples Center homecoming wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as his first.

Maggette took an inbounds pass from Kerry Kittles and made a long fadeaway jumper from the right wing with less than a second to play in the second overtime Friday night, lifting the Clippers to a wild 114-112 victory over the Miami Heat.

In front of a sellout crowd of 20,043 that couldn’t seem to decide whether it had come to cheer for O’Neal or the Clippers, Maggette scored 11 of his 28 points in the overtime periods and the Clippers, 103-92 winners over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night at Staples, defeated a division leader for the second time in three nights.

“It was just one of those freak plays, man,” Maggette said of the game-winning shot. “I just thank God for making the shot and Kerry for seeing me. He said, ‘If you come off this way, I’m going to give you the ball.’ ...

“I fell on the floor and was like, ‘Man, it looks like this ball is going in.’ I couldn’t even get off the floor I was so ecstatic.”

O’Neal, greeted by a rousing ovation during pregame introductions, scored 39 points in the absence of Heat scoring leader Dwyane Wade, who sat out because of back spasms and a bruised rib, and sent the game into overtime when he made the first of two free throws with 14.6 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

Darrick Martin then missed a shot from the right wing at the buzzer and the Clippers went to overtime for the league-high seventh time in 35 games.

O’Neal, who had helped the Heat to an overtime victory over the Lakers in Staples on Christmas Day, again came to the rescue for the Heat in the first overtime. Gathering the long rebound of a missed shot by Rasual Butler just inside the foul line, he nailed a jumper with two seconds left, tying the score at 106-106.

Martin this time missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

In the end, though, the Clippers handed the Heat its third loss in five games.

“Our best win of the year, given all the opportunities we had to fold,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We didn’t get off to a good start

The Clippers, who overcame an early 16-point deficit, got 29 points and 13 rebounds from Elton Brand. Bobby Simmons had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Maggette had 10 rebounds, as did Chris Kaman.

O’Neal made 12 of 25 shots, 15 of 28 free throws and took 10 rebounds. Eddie Jones and Butler scored 18 points apiece in the absence of Wade, who leads the Heat in scoring, assists and minutes.

The Heat wrapped up a five-game trip that included losses at Phoenix and Seattle, victories at Portland and Golden State.

The Heat benefits, of course, from playing in the East. It has won 20 of 22 games within its own conference, but is only 8-9 against the West.

The Clippers, 9-3 against the East, were not intimidated.

Dunleavy’s plan to contain O’Neal was to foul early and often.

“Our big guys have to sacrifice in the sense that if he gets an offensive rebound or a real deep low-post catch, you’ve got to foul him,” he said before the game. “You can’t let him score. You’re taking away an obvious two points and turning it into a potential turnover if he misses both free throws.”

Kaman and Zeljko Rebraca both fouled out.

O’Neal, who averaged 29 points and 11 rebounds in the first four games of the trip, missed his first three shots, two layups and a tip, but the Clippers couldn’t find the mark either.

The Heat ran out to a 23-10 lead as the Clippers missed 13 of their first 16 shots. The lead grew to 30-14 on a follow shot by O’Neal before the Clippers rallied.

They went on a run in the second quarter and led, 53-48, at halftime.