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Mobley hits clutch free throws as Clippers down Heat

Mar 11, 2008 - 3:34 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Two days after suffering a pair of losses, the shorthanded Miami Heat had their hearts broken again.

Cuttino Mobley scored 29 points and hit a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds left to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 99-98 victory over the Heat on Monday.

Ricky Davis, who scored 27 points, had a chance to win it at the buzzer but his jumper rimmed out. He had knocked down 10 shots in a row prior to his miss that set up Mobley's game-winner.

"It's tough," Davis said. "It was a good look, it was what we wanted. It just didn't go down. I thought the last shot was good ... it rimmed out of there a little bit. It's tough. That's the kind of year we've been having."

"We had a chance to win," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "The same thing happens. Night in and night out we get close, we have the lead and we can't make one stop."

Rookie Daequan Cook scored a season-high 23 points and Shawn Marion chipped in 17 and 17 rebounds for Miami, which finally decided to shut down All-Star swingman Dwyane Wade for the season earlier in the day.

Wade, who averaged 24.6 points and 6.1 points in 51 games, will undergo non-surgical shockwave therapy on his ailing left knee and miss the rest of the season.

It was another tough loss for the Heat, who lost the replay of a December 19 game to Atlanta on Saturday, as well as their regularly scheduled game.

Miami, which shot 63 percent (12-of-19) from the arc, has lost 32 of 35 and owns the league's worst record at 11-51.

"It's always good when you're shorthanded and guys go out there and make it a game," Davis said. "We always have been there (at the end) all year. It's a matter of closing games."

The Heat, who fell to 1-10 without Wade, used a 23-4 third-quarter run to get back in the game. They held a 80-73 lead entering the fourth quarter.

In a back-and-forth final period, Clippers rookie Al Thornton, who scored 22 points, tied the game at 97-97 by hitting the second of two free throws with 26.9 seconds left.

Davis then drove to the basket and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws for a 98-97 lead with 4.7 seconds remaining. But on the ensuing possesion, Mobley was fouled on a drive and hit a pair of free throws for a 99-98 lead with 2.6 seconds to play.

"At first, Shawn Marion tried to cheat, and he had my waist," Mobley said. "I tried to go into (Heat center Mark) Blount and he tripped me, and I tried to scoop it up and the ref called a foul."

Davis' jumper at the buzzer rolled around and out, giving the Clippers the win.

"We just pulled it out," Mobley said. "We played OK in the first half. They made some shots in the second half, got themselves back in it. We got lackadaisical."

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy was asked what got Mobley going.

"South Beach I guess," Dunleavy said. "He has got a good rhythm, he's that type of player, comes off of screens to make shots. But he is a veteran guy and, once he got the hot hand, we just kind of kept going to him."