It’s been a rough past week for the Los Angeles Lakers between the ongoing California wildfires and their performance on the basketball court.
The Lakers were coming off a terrible loss to the San Antonio Spurs, so their matchup against the Miami Heat presented their best opportunity to bounce back and earn a win. However, Miami had other plans as they came out swinging and forced Los Angeles to play behind for most of the night.
Fortunately, the Lakers were able to summon enough effort and grit in the second half to overcome their slow start and pull out a 117-108 victory over the Heat.
LeBron James always has an extra gear when playing against his former teams, and he certainly had a pep in his step versus the Heat. While James didn’t look to score too much in the first half, he took it upon himself to get more aggressive in the third and fourth quarters.
In crunchtime, James was the engine of the offense as he scored seven consecutive points to keep Miami at bay. Overall, James finished with 22 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. He also had the highlight of the night when he streaked down the left sideline and rose up to throw down a lob from Austin Reaves that drew a roar from the Crypto.com Arena.
Rui Hachimura had been struggling scoring the basketball entering the game against Miami, but he was able to get himself going with a couple of shots near the rim. Hachimura also got into a rhythm shooting from the outside as the Heat tried to disrupt the Lakers with their zone defense.
Hachimura was a consistent source of offense and he wound up leading Los Angeles in scoring with 23 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds to go along with one assists and one steal.
Anthony Davis had a quieter night than usual by virtue of being defended by Bam Adebayo, but the star big man was still instrumental in the win. Although Davis missed a few shots he would normally make, he still found a way to contribute through his jumper.
Davis had an excellent all-around game, scoring 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers’ homestand will finally come to an end on Friday when they host the Brooklyn Nets. They then travel down toward Inglewood where they’ll play the L.A. Clipper on Sunday in their first game an Intuit Dome.
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