After a brief road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers finally returned home and did so sporting a modest two-game winning streak.
The Lakers have looked more and more comfortable on the floor together, though they played host to the Miami Heat who have surprisingly turned into one of the most explosive offenses in the NBA. Head coach Erik Spoelstra is a master at getting the most out of his rosters, and this season he has turned them into one of the best and most consistent offenses around.
Los Angeles entered the night hopeful Deandre Ayton would suit up, but he was unfortunately ruled out due to back spasms. Meanwhile, Miami played shorthanded as they were without a couple of their stars in Tyler Herro and Norman Powell.
In a high-scoring affair that featured little to no defense at times, the Lakers managed to come out on top and extend their winning streak to three games after beating the Heat 130-120.
Jake LaRavia was Los Angeles’ first reported signing in free agency and it was widely considered to be a good move as his two-year, $12 million deal represented fair value with good upside. After a shaky first couple of games with his new team, LaRavia has settled into his role as a jack-of-all-trades kind of player.
Against a Miami squad that tried its best to disrupt Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, LaRavia stepped up in a huge way on both ends of the floor. LaRavia has been shooting the basketball well the past couple of weeks, and he found ways to get open and make the Heat defense pay for forgetting him.
Defensively, LaRavia showed off his smarts by constantly being in the right position to slow down drives or get into passing lines. Overall, LaRavia had his best game of the season as he recorded 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Marcus Smart had arguably his best two-way performance for Los Angeles, constantly wreaking havoc defensively while knocking down timely shots when Miami went on runs.
Smart finished the night with 11 points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block but his impact was felt beyond the box score.
Lastly, Doncic finally fell back down to Earth shooting the basketball but he still managed to record his first triple-double of the season. Doncic had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists despite not having the best shooting night.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers don’t have much time to celebrate their win as they head up north to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back set on Monday.
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