LOS ANGELES – The failure to finish defined the first two games of this four-game Miami Heat western swing, first an inability Thursday night against the San Antonio Spurs, then something similar Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This time, Erik Spoelstra’s team stepped up to the challenge, even when challenged to the finish, holding off the Los Angeles Clippers 120-119 Monday night at the Intuit Dome, when Clippers guard Kawhi Leonard was off with a 26-foot 3-point pull-up jumper with 2.1 seconds to play.

“Man, just to scrap and get a win like that, those are the most gratifying wins,” said center Bam Adebayo, who led the Heat with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

With Norman Powell back in the mix, the Heat were able to withstand a miserable defensive first half by getting scrappy when needed, as they next head off to conclude the week–plus away from Miami with a Wednesday night game against the Denver Nuggets.

“There was a great karma for our team in the second half. Guys were really competing for each other,” Spoelstra said. “The bottom line is you just figure out how to get the win.”

In addition to Adebayo’s numbers, the Heat got 21 points from Powell against his former  team, 17 from Andrew Wiggins and 16 from Kel’el Ware in his shift to the bench.

For the Clippers, there were 29 points from James Harden and 27 from Leonard.

Five Degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game:

1. Closing time: The Heat led 32-30 after the first quarter, despite 15 points from Leonard. The Clippers then moved to a 71-66 lead at half, before the Heat responded for a 103-95 lead going into the fourth.

But just as the Heat rallied in the third, so did the Clippers at the start of the fourth, leaving it tied midway through the final period.

Later, with the score tied 113-113, Wiggins converted a 3-pointer with 2:23 to play for a 116-113 Heat lead, only to see Harden tie it 116-116 with a 3-pointer of his own.

That’s when Adebayo stepped up, first with a go-ahead jumper, then stopping Harden, with a pair of Adebayo free throws putting the Heat up 120-116 with 57.4 seconds to play.

“I’ve been watching somebody in the summer do that a lot. So I took some pointers,” Adebayo said in an homage to WNBA star and girlfriend A’ja Wilson.

Still, it wasn’t over, with Harden converting a 3-pointer to draw the Clippers within 120-119 with 19.5 seconds to play, after Adebayo was off with a jumper.

From there, Powell was trapped into a jumpball that the Clippers won with 16.5 seconds to play.

The Clippers then played for the win, with Leonard off with his jumper.

“It was a little bit uneven in the fourth quarter,” Spoelstra said.

2. Downsizing: With Powell back in the mix, the Heat not only remixed the starting lineup, but downsized, with 7-foot Ware the one replaced from the lineup that opened the three games Powell missed with his groin strain.

To a degree, it was a factor of matching up with a Clippers lineup that started lithe former Heat wing Derrick Jones Jr. at power forward.

“I know probably people are going to Kel’el and it’s a demotion. It’s not,” Spoelstra said. “I know there will be some teams where it probably makes more sense to play big. We have a team it makes more sense to use our versatility and sometimes changing the starting lineup.”

The Heat’s realignment had 6-7 Wiggins playing as the de facto Heat starting power forward, with Pelle Larsson starting for the fourth consecutive game.

While he didn’t necessarily fill the box score, Larsson’s energy was infectious during the Heat’s third-quarter comeback.

“Pelle really sparked everything in that third quarter just with his passion, his energy,” Spoelstra said.

3. Then Ware: Ware entered for the first time with 4:56 to play in the opening period.

He quickly moved to 12 points in his first 11 minutes, draining both of his opening 3-point attempts, while also providing defensive deterrence at the rim.

The constant with Ware was an either/or approach with Ware and Adebayo.

Ware was the choice at the start of the fourth quarter, draining a 3-pointer for the Heat’s first points of the period. Adebayo then returned with 9:55 to play.

“Kel’el gave us great minutes, great minutes,” Spoelstra said. “It was really great to see him respond.”

4. Attack mode: Adebayo scored nine of the Heat’s first 14 points, including a 3-pointer that extended his career-high streak of games with at least one conversion to 19 games dating to last season.

He was up to 21 points through three periods, at seven rebounds at that stage, before his decisive closing kick.

“Bam continues just to be out leader,” Spoelstra said.

5. Solid, then out: Powell scored seven quick points in his return against the Lakers, but then was forced to the bench with his second foul with 4:56 left in the opening period.

As he did before his groin injury Powell worked his way to the foul line, closing at 7 of 7 on free throws.

The Heat went 1-2 in Powell’s absence, winning at home against the Charlotte Hornets and then losing at the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers.

“He was on somewhat of a minutes restriction,” Spoelstra said. “But yeah you can see how he changes the dynamic of our team, offensively.”

Powell acknowledged it was an emotional night.

“I just told myself to lean into it, not shy away,” he said, “continue to be present, no matter what was going  on. Whether I had a good start, a bad start whatever, stay the course, stay even keeled and work the game, and we were able to get the win.”