With a 5:04 left in the 4th quarter of a game that would go into overtime on Wednesday night against the Clippers, Andrew Wiggins sat down on the bench and didn't get back up.

Miami finished its 117-116 win over the Clippers with Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Pelle Larsson, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo on the floor. That group was plus-14 in 13 minutes up until Thursday nights loss to the Golden State Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back. Thompson hit the winner off a Giannis inbounds pass with one second left, and the Heat got their third win of the season.

Here's the problem. That isn't the group that started the game, it hasn't started a single game through the first 9 games. For the ninth straight game, Spoelstra opened with Mitchell, Thompson, Wiggins, Giannis and Bam, and for the ninth straight game it didn't work.

I usually don't care much about who starts. The starters usually play about the first six minutes of each half anyway. Ultimately, what matters is who plays the most minutes and who's on the floor at the end. But this team has a specific problem, and the starting lineup has been at the center of it.

Miami keeps digging holes. Through the first seven games, the starting five had a net rating of minus-11.9 and was allowing 134.5 points per 100 possessions, according to Bleacher Report. For reference, the worst defense in the NBA last season wasn't close to that. A team that spends every night climbing out of a deficit will be tired by the fourth quarter, which is where too many of those comebacks have come up short.

So why not just start the group that you trust at the end? I want to be fair to Wiggins, because I like his game and none of this is a referendum on whether he's a good player because he is. The problem is fit, and you can see it in how little he's involved. Ira Winderman noted this week that Wiggins's shot attempts and usage were at career lows entering Wednesday, and against the Clippers he didn't score until a three in the third quarter, after 14 other players had already scored.

Spoelstra admitted the team has "had to prioritize some other things offensively," and that it isn't entirely fair to Wiggins. Wiggins has always done his best work as a cutter and in transition. Before the season his career cut efficiency sat in the 80th percentile and his transition efficiency in the 70th. Both skills depend on space near the rim, and there isn't much of it when Giannis and Bam live there. On a team built around two players who own the paint, the wing who occupies some of the same space gets squeezed out.

Through the first seven games, per the team's game notes, Wiggins was shooting 33.3 percent from three on 24 attempts, with a plus-minus of minus-21.

Pelle Larsson's value doesn't depend on touches, and that's exactly why he fits.

Before Wednesday’s game, Pelle was shooting 55.3 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from three and 88.5 percent from the line, at 14.2 points a game and a plus-minus of plus-11. He's the best point-of-attack defender on the roster not named Mitchell.

He led the Heat in charges drawn last season. He gets to the line because he plays through contact on his drives, and he moves the ball. In a lineup with Giannis and Bam, the fifth guy doesn't need plays called for him. Instead, he needs to defend, make the extra pass and punish teams for sending help. That's Larsson's whole game.

Our own Mateo Mayorga made the case earlier this week for starting Larsson over Thompson, pointing out that Miami's main four allowed 130.6 points per 100 possessions with Thompson and 93.3 with Larsson.

But I'd still bench Wiggins instead, for one reason: Thompson is the only player in that group that defenses have to chase off the ball. Giannis and Bam need the floor spaced more than anything else, and Thompson is that exact spacing. He scored 30 on Wednesday and hit eight threes. Take him out of the starting five and the paint gets even more crowded.

It also might be the best thing for Wiggins. Coming off the bench, he'd be the first scoring option in the second unit instead of the fifth option in the first. More touches, more cuts, more chances to play the way he actually plays. Plenty of good players have found their footing in that role.

None of this guarantees anything. The new starting group has played together in small stretches, and small samples can lie. But the coach has already told us who he trusts, because he keeps putting that group on the floor when the game is on the line.

Miami is 3-6 and they can't keep spotting teams double-digit leads and hoping the fourth quarter bails it out. Start the lineup that finishes.