MIAMI _ This was a case of fighting the good fight against an opponent that had more to offer.
Sometimes in the NBA it can be as simple as that.
So despite battling almost all the way back from a 16-point second-half deficit, the Miami Heat fell, 102-98, Friday night to the Los Angeles Clippers at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Even with a pair of double-doubles, the best the Heat could do was whittle their deficit before succumbing to Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul.
Both centers went for double-doubles, with Hassan Whiteside closing with 11 points and 17 rebounds for the Heat, and Jordan 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Clippers.
The Heat got a second double-double, from point guard Goran Dragic, who closed with 21 points and 11 assists, with Justise Winslow adding 15 points.
The Clippers were paced by the 20 points of Griffin, with Paul adding 17.
Down by as many as 16 in the third quarter, the Heat closed within 92-87 with 3:48 to play on a floater in the lane from James Johnson. But after a Heat defensive stop, Johnson was off with a jumper, leaving the deficit at five.
After failed possessions by both teams, Paul made one of two free throws for a 93-87 Clippers lead with 2:12 to play.
But that's when Dragic committed just the Heat's fifth turnover of the game, his bad pass putting the Clippers in possession with 1:53 to play and Paul capitalizing on an 11-foot floater for a 95-87 Clippers lead.
Against a stifling Clippers defense, yet another Heat turnover followed, on a 24-second violation with 1:17 to play.
From there, the Heat drew within 95-91 on a Winslow 3-pointer with 22 seconds to play and then within 99-96 on a Josh Richardson 3-point play with 13.2 seconds left.
And then it got interesting, with the Clippers first forced to call their final timeout while inbounding, and then seeing Austin Rivers turn the ball over on the inbounds pass with 12.4 seconds left.
That's when the Heat called their final timeout.
Dragic then was fouled before converting a floater, going to the line with 10.5 seconds left. But his two free throws weren't enough, as the Heat came up short.
The Heat entered short-handed in their backcourt, with Tyler Johnson out with an illness that slowed him during Wednesday night's victory over the Indiana Pacers and then kept him from Thursday's practice, and with Dion Waiters still out with a groin issue that remains without a return timetable.
"He was actually playing sick the other night," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "From that game, it just wiped him out."
The Heat then lost guard Wayne Ellington in the third period with what the Heat termed a middle right hamstring strain. Ellington had 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to that stage. It left the Heat with only Dragic and Josh Richardson available at guard.
With Winslow back for a second game after missing the previous 16 with a sore left wrist, the Heat remained with a starting lineup of Whiteside, Dragic, Ellington, Rodney McGruder and Josh McRoberts for an eighth consecutive game.
The Heat suffered an early blow when Whiteside was forced to the bench with his second foul with 1:58 left in the opening period, with both fouls coming against Jordan. Whiteside was up to five rebounds and four points at that stage.
Even with Ellington shooting 4-of-4 in the first period for nine points, the Heat went into the second period down 31-27. Griffin was up to 10 points at that stage for the Clippers, although McRoberts held his own early in that matchup with a pair of early 3-pointers.
The Heat briefly went with Willie Reed when Whiteside went out with his second foul, but Reed then was pulled after 32 seconds, when Jordan checked out, with the Heat then playing James Johnson at center in an undersized lineup.
The Heat then opened the second period with Luke Babbitt at power forward, after Babbitt missed seven games with a hip flexor.
James Johnson then was called for his third foul of the game with 9:33 left in the second period, which led to the insertion of Derrick Williams, the forward's first action in three games, putting the Heat 11 deep by that stage.
With the Heat limited to 16 points on 24-percent shooting in the second period, the Clippers busted out to a 60-46 halftime lead.
The Clippers then went into the fourth quarter up 79-69, with Whiteside closing the third period on the bench after being called for his fourth foul with 5:53 left in the third.
