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Through his first five games as a member of the Miami Heat, Klay Thompson was going through it. The longtime sharpshooter just couldn’t find the range in his new home, missing more than two-thirds of his triple tries while struggling to keep up on defense for a Heat club that opened the season scuffling despite the offseason arrival of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

On one hand, it seemed at least possible that Thompson — nearing his 37th birthday, coming off a pair of up-and-down campaigns in Dallas, years removed from his peak as a Splash Brother — just might no longer be the kind of flamethrowing gamebreaker we remember from his days with the dynastic Golden State Warriors. On the other, though … the guy who’s made the fourth most 3-pointers in NBA history was going to get hot and swing a game at some point, right?

That point came at Intuit Dome, in Inglewood, Calif., with the visiting Heat trailing the Los Angeles Clippers by two points with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime of a wild Wednesday night affair:

With the Heat inbounding from the frontcourt, Thompson begins the play by cutting from the free-throw line down toward the baseline, setting a pindown screen to allow Miami point guard Davion Mitchell to flash to the top of the key. That’s just window dressing, though: When the Clippers switch that screen, Thompson turns and curls off a screen by Bam Adebayo.

The Heat big man picks off both L.A. defenders in the area, Kobe Sanders and Brook Lopez, giving Klay a clean release to the short corner. From Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald:

“Bam set one heck of a screen,” Spoelstra said.

“Screeners don’t usually get a lot of credit, but that’s probably my best screen,” Adebayo added with a smile.

From Ben Golliver at ESPN:

“I felt like I had so much space,” Thompson said. “I’m not going to say that’s an easy shot for me, but I’ve taken so many thousands of corner 3s, especially in that left corner. It’s probably the easiest shot on the perimeter for a righty like myself. I got my feet down and planted, and it felt really good coming off my fingertips.”

It looked even better splashing through the net, giving the Heat a one-point lead with one second remaining in OT. With no timeouts left, the Clippers could only attempt a three-quarter-court heave that came up empty, allowing Miami to escape with a 117-116 win.

Thompson’s triple punctuated a remarkable comeback for the Heat. Miami had looked dead-to-rights in the first half, trailing by as many as 20 points and conceding a mammoth 30-4 to their hosts fueled by the inside-out scoring of veteran center Lopez and rookie guard Keaton Wagler, who outscored the Heat in the second quarter 21-19 by themselves.

As they came out of intermission, though, the Heat began chipping away.

A defense that had given up 67 first-half points on 60% shooting tightened considerably, holding the Clips to 40 points on 35% shooting with eight turnovers across the third and fourth quarters. Antetokounmpo and Adebayo flexed their muscle, combining for 31 points and 17 free-throw attempts in the second half and the Heat whittled down L.A.’s lead; after a personal 6-0 run by Giannis, they were back within one possession just over a minute into the fourth quarter, putting the game back in the balance.

After a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter that saw the Clippers rebuild a double-digit deficit, the Heat promptly erase it to take a one-point lead on an Adebayo jumper with 1:53 remaining in regulation, and the Clips take back control on a layup by Darius Garland on the ensuing possession, both teams missed golden opportunities to put the game away. Perhaps the most damaging, though: A ghastly turnover by Garland near half-court that eventually allowed Antetokounmpo to step to the line for two free throws, putting Miami up by one with 10.8 seconds to go:

The Clips still had a chance to win it in regulation, though, with Hachimura drawing a foul on a bang-bang play that was initially called a blocking foul on Pelle Larson. Miami challenged the call, arguing that it should’ve been a charge; officials deemed that challenge successful, but also called a proximate foul on Adebayo on the play after review, sending Hachimura to the line with 2.7 ticks remaining. He split his pair of free throws, though, and after a missed foul-line jumper by Adebayo on the other end, the game headed to overtime, knotted at 107.

L.A. charged back in front in overtime, with Garland scoring nine of his team-high 26 points in the extra frame. But a jumper by Adebayo got the Heat back within two heading into the final minute, and Thompson’s literal last-second 3 stood up as the final margin — much to the relief of the always-intense Erik Spoelstra.

The game-winner was the eighth long-ball of the night for Thompson, who finished with 30 points on 11-for-22 shooting — his first 30-point game in two and a half years. Wednesday’s performance continued a tear for the five-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion, who’s gone 19-for-36 from long distance over the last three games as he thaws out from that frosty start.

“He’s getting his legs under him, and he’s getting his game legs,” Spoelstra said of Thompson, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “He’s in shape, he works, he’s really been putting in a lot of time […] You can fight Father Time and he’s doing it. He’s putting in a ton of time on his body, getting in shape, and that’s allowing him to show the skill set that he’s had throughout his Hall of Fame career.”

Thompson, for his part, said after the win that he hasn’t “felt this good in a long time.”

“No pain in my lower limbs, and I’m so grateful to be here,” he said, according to Chiang at the Herald. “I mean, they hold me accountable, the training staff and coaching staff, and I feel amazing. I haven’t felt this good to start a season in years, so I’m just really inspired by not only my performance tonight, but our team’s.”

With the win, Miami improved to 3-5 heading into Thursday’s date with Thompson’s old friends in Golden State. The Clippers, on the other hand, have now lost seven in a row since winning on opening night, plunging to the bottom of the Western Conference standings alongside the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.