On a night without LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers (17-21) continued their winning streak as they defeated the Miami Heat (20-19) 112-109. The Heat were coming into the contest having won 4 of their last 5 games and looking to improve on their newfound success.
As aforementioned, the Lakers were without Anthony Davis once again due to a stress injury in his right foot, causing him to have already missed the club’s last 10 games. Along with AD, LeBron joined the inactive list as he was out due to a non-covid related illness. The Heat were without a variety of players including Nikola Jović (lower back), Ömer Yurtseven (left ankle), and Duncan Robinson who just recently underwent surgery in his right 2nd finger after having experienced the injury on November 18th, against the Washington Wizards.
In the opening quarter, the Los Angeles Lakers came out in full force capitalizing on the offensive end, scoring 32 points off of 54% shooting from the field and 38% from the field while defensively, they held the Heat to 23 points on 47% shooting from the field. During the first quarter, Dennis Schröder and Jimmy Butler were leading their respective teams in the scoring department: Schröder with 8 points and Butler with 7 points. Going into the second quarter, both teams had seen their shooting percentages plummet drastically with the Lakers at 37% shooting from the field and 28% from three while the Heat were 38% from the field and 18% from the three. Russell Westbrook provided the Lakers with a much needed spark with his 10 points in the second, in order to keep the lead heading into the half. As the half concluded, the standout performances included: Westbrook with 12 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds, Schröder with 10 points while the Heat’s Bam Adebayo had 12 points and 5 rebounds, and Butler with 9 points.
Starting off the second half, Butler and Adebayo were mainly responsible for the Heat’s 17-10 run, which allowed them to regain their first lead since the closing minutes of the first quarter. The Lakers defense had collapsed in the third as the Heat had put up 30 points, stemming from highly efficient shooting (60% from the field), while their offense allowed them to stay in the game by putting up 27 points of their own. Additionally, the third quarter is best described as a tug-o-war with the lead changing for a total of eight times. Despite so many lead changes, the Lakers were able to garner the lead with 4 quick points from Kendrick Nunn and Westbrook before heading into the final quarter of play. In the final quarter, the Heat had jumped out to another run (12-8) which allowed them to regain their last lead of the night, as the Lakers had come up with an impressive response. The Lakers response had seen Schröder and Thomas Bryant combining for 26 points of the teams 33 points in order to falter the Heat’s run. It would be very remiss to not mention the fact that Schröder had timely buckets in the fourth as he was responsible for the last 9 of 12 points for the Lakers in which in turn brought the team their third straight win while snapping the Heat’s win streak.
In the absence of LeBron and AD, Schröder had stepped up to the plate as he led the Lakers in scoring with 32 points. Along with Schröder’s impressive night, the rest of the cavalry had contributed tremendously with Westbrook 21 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, Bryant with 21 points, 9 rebounds, while Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel had 10 points of their own.
As for the Heat, Adebayo and Butler had carried the load for the team putting up the following stats: Adebayo with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Butler added 27 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. The other contributions included Victor Oladipo with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in addition to Kyle Lowry’s 11 points.
Overall, the Lakers had received much more contributions from their bench as they outplayed the Heat’s scoring 42 points to their 24 points.
What’s Next?
The Los Angeles Lakers (17-21) will seek to continue their three game winning streak against the slumping Atlanta Hawks (17-19) Friday night. The Hawks are hoping to wrap up their 4 game road trip out west with a winning record in order to propel themselves back up in their conference standings. On the season, the Hawks are averaging 115.4 points per game while defensively they allow 116.3 points per game, ranking them as the 9th worst across the league. With both teams playing with similar aspirations, surely this would be a match to keep an eye out for.
As for the Miami Heat (20-19) they will wrap up their 5 game road trip out west with a matchup against the shorthanded Phoenix Suns (20-19). After starting the season with an impressive 15-6 record, the Suns have dropped 13 of their last 18 games. The Sun’s struggles could be pinpointed towards Booker’s absence as he sustained a groin injury against the Pelicans, and will be evaluated within the next four weeks. On the season, the Suns are averaging 113.5 points per game while defensively they allow 111.2, ranking them as the 9th best across the league.
For more News about the Miami Heat visit: www.miamiheat.com
For more News about the Los Angeles Lakers visit: www.lakers.com
For more sports coverage from MLB, NBA, NFL, to NCAA contact Julian Ojeda at 786-501-9082 or via email
Be the first to comment