It was a frustrating outing for the Miami Heat as they fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 103-95, as head coach Erik Spoelstra, Bam Adebayo, and Josh Richardson spoke after the game to talk about what went wrong. The game inside the Kaseya Center means the Heat have lost five of their last six games on their home floor.

Defensively, it wasn't that bad of a game as they held a high-powered Clippers team with stars like Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Paul George to just over 100 points, but offensively was a different story. The turning point came in the final period when Los Angeles was in the bonus with 8:52 left in the contest.

Spoelstra says Clippers have “professional foul drawers”

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra in front of the Kaseya Center.

With a team filled with players like Harden, Leonard, and George, getting them in the bonus is a recipe for disaster. Spoelstra touched on that after the game to the media and said the Clippers have “professional scorers and professional foul drawers” that know how to take advantage of that aspect of the game.

“I think we're on our way to a very good defensive game. We would have had to really win this thing in the mud. But the way it was trending going into that fourth and it felt like we could have held them to mid 90s, way under their average, at least 20 over their average,” Spoelstra said. “I think the game really turned in the fourth quarter when we started fouling. And it's a tough team not to foul them and they have professional scorers and professional foul drawers. And then, three straight times, drew fouls and then got in the penalty early and then continue to draw fouls, and that just created that separation. It takes incredible focus and discipline to not foul and if you're too aggressive, they really know how to draw fouls 30 feet away from the basket – Spo on what went wrong in game.”

It led to a bevy of offense from the Clippers in the fourth as despite being held under 30 in the previous three quarters, they scored 34 in the final period. Overall, they shot over 50 percent from the field and three-point range which was a feat that Miami couldn't overtake.

Adebayo said that being in the bonus hurt cause Heat play aggressively

As said before, the defense was far from the worst part of the game, but Miami became too aggressive which brought them to foul trouble in the first place. Adebayo, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, said that when players “are crafty” in the NBA, they have to find a balance of being aggressive and not when they're in the bonus.

“A couple of fouls hurt us early in the fourth. Being in the bonus that early in the fourth is not a good thing just because we play aggressive defense,” Adebayo said. “And when you get into the bonus early, guys are crafty in this league. So when guys that are crafty, we have to figure out how to get balance when we're in the bonus.”

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A learning lesson for Miami's Josh Richardson

Josh Richardson was called on the last minute to start the game as the team ruled out Tyler Herro minutes before the tip-off that was originally listed as headache, but then later confirmed to be a migraine per a Heat spokesperson. He finished the game with 14 points and said to ClutchPoints that with the loss, the team can take it as a lesson.

“It's tough, they got three former MVPs or Finals MVPs,” Richardson said. “They know how to play, they know how to draw fouls and next time we can't get caught with our hands in the air and get caught trying to be physical when we know they're trying to bait us.”

The Heat start the four-game home stand with a loss which brings their record to 26-24. They start a back-t0-back Tuesday against the Orlando Magic then conclude Wednesday facing the San Antonio Spurs.