The Miami Heat had seen the movie before, and so they devised a plot twist for Friday’s version: What if, this time, the Clippers’ comeback fell short?

Coach Erik Spoelstra’s Eastern Conference-leading squad read the scouting report, knew all about the Clippers’ franchise-record 35-point comeback in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday – when Coach Tyronn Lue’s team made it three comebacks of 24 points or more in two weeks.

And so Miami didn’t let its guard down against a Clippers contingent that just doesn’t know how to quit – and even so, per usual, Lue’s team made a game of it after falling behind by 23 points.

They got within four with 33.9 seconds to play before Jimmy Butler’s final four free throws snuffed out the Clippers’ latest rally and the host Heat escaped with a 121-114 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,600 fans at FTX Arena.

“We just kept playing,” said Luke Kennard, who went 4 for 6 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter, when he scored 16 of his team-high 23 points as the Clippers chased hard, outscoring Miami 34-25.

“We were attacking a little bit more to get into the paint, and then kind of kicking it out a little bit, making more of the right plays in the second half. And we were able to get some good looks. That’s the way we want to play, in the second half like we did.

“We always give ourselves a chance, no matter what, but we just can’t – again man – dig ourselves in a hole that early in the game.”

L.A. trailed 85-62 with 5:06 left in the third quarter and then 100-82 with 10:45 remaining in the fourth. But, following the script, the Clippers (25-26) came charging back, closing the deficit to 107-100 on Kennard’s third 3-pointer in the fourth.

Squeezed by the Clippers’ full-court press, Tyler Herro lost the ball and Amir Coffey (15 points) collected it and converted a layup to make it a four-point game, 117-113, with 33.9 seconds left.

The Clippers fouled Butler to stop the clock and Miami’s star stepped to the free-throw line and drained both free throws to make it 119-113.

After Coffey made one of his two free throws, Butler – who had 26 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals – capped his perfect night from the free-throw line by making his 15th and 16th attempts to seal the victory, in the process snapping the Heat’s six-game losing streak to the Clippers, dating to Dec. 8, 2018.

Gabe Vincent finished with 23 points and Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who have won 10 of 12 and improved to 32-17.

For the Clippers, Eric Bledsoe missed his four 3-point tries but was successful attacking the basket, finishing with 19 points.

And playing for the first time in front of his infant son, Nico, Clippers forward Justise Winslow – who in 2015 was the Heats first-round pick (10th overall) – finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and plus-15 on the stat sheet.

The Clippers are 3-3 on their season-long eight-game road swing, with two more games remaining in Charlotte and Indiana on Sunday and Monday – their fourth and fifth games in a week.

They remain without injured All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and Marcus Morris Sr. missed his third consecutive game due to personal reasons.

Personal reasons also kept Miami’s guard Kyle Lowry, who ranks fifth in the NBA in assists per game (8.3), away. The Heat improved to 5-1 since he’s been away.

Miami led by as many as 14 points before halftime, when it was up 57-45 – a tenuous advantage against the Clippers, who have overcome deficits of 13 or more points five times in January, tied for the third-most in any calendar month over the past 35 seasons, according to ESPN research.

The Heat also harbored some personal experience being bitten by the Comeback Clippers, who surged back from 19 points down to win, 109-105 on their previous visit to Miami last season – when they also were without Leonard and George.

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And so, behind Vincent’s six 3-pointers early in the third quarter, Miami built its 23-point buffer that withstood the Clippers’ latest charge from behind.

“We don’t want to keep getting down, for sure,” said Lue, who, in need of a spark, again turned to his young players, including Kennard, Winslow, Coffey Isaiah Hartenstein, Terance Mann and Jay Scrubb.

“But we’re gonna keep battling, keep fighting… you try to get some energy guys in the game, once the lead kind of goes south on us … try to get the energy up, try to pick up full court more.

“It was a good game for us, like I said, I just thought it got away from us in that third quarter.”