The second stage of back to back in Florida from Lakers led them this time to miamiwhere awaited them firmly Jimmy Butler (27 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals) and Bam Adebayo (23 points, 14 rebounds), back after their absence game.
Two players who, rested, did not fail to make miseries to the teammates of LeBron James (27 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, but 6 lost balls), much too weak and limited collectively to hope to disrupt and beat a team like the Heat (112-98).
But it is above all with the ball in hand that Los Angeles sinned last night (26 ball losses…) and, at the same time, greatly facilitated the task of Floridians. Floridians who win for the second time in a row, before leaving for a long road trip of five games in the West, while the Californians lost for the fifth time in six meetings.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Los Angeles distributed the gifts. The Christmas period may be over, but the Lakers were in a generous mood tonight. Proof of this is: their… 26 lost balls, which allowed the Heat to score 31 points in continuity! Much, much too much when you know that the Florida franchise has only committed 6 small ball losses, for 2 points conceded as a result. Look no further for the main reason for the defeat of the “Purple & Gold”…
— Miami reassured itself. Back above 50% of victories, the Heat took advantage of the arrival of the Lakers to redo the icing and remind themselves that they were both capable of holding an advantage and not (too) shaking in the last moments. In the lead for a good part of the match, and throughout the second period thanks to their superb third quarter, Erik Spoelstra’s men can therefore savor this fairly easy and authoritative success. They who will now test themselves five times on the move, from Friday…
— LeBron James climbs again in an all-time ranking. Just before celebrating his 38th birthday, the four-time MVP entered the Top 10 of players with the most games in the regular season. In uniform for the 1,393rd time in his career, he thus overtakes a certain Tim Duncan (1,392) and is positioned behind the 1,410 meetings of Jason Terry. For information, the record holder in this area is called Robert Parish: 1,611 regular season games!
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The Butler/Adebayo duo. If soldiers Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent showed great things offensively (25 points at 5/9 at 3-pts in total), it is thanks to all the spaces offered by the Lakers, but especially created by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Untenable from start to finish, the two leaders of the Heat wandered in the Californian “defense”, unable to slow them down in scoring or in lags. Symbol of Florida domination in the paint, the All-Star tandem put pressure on their opponents from the start, without ever loosening the noose afterwards, because there was always one to knock out Los Angeles.
✅ LeBron James. Certainly correctly supported in sequences by Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schröder, Troy Brown Jr, Wenyen Gabriel or even Juan Toscano-Anderson, the “King” generally had to manage alone against Miami. For her return to a room she knows well, the ex-Super star of the Heat made the rain and the good weather on the Lakers side. As soon as he played, his team existed and competed with the opponent. As soon as he rested, his team took on water and let go of the score. This was especially seen before the break because, in the second half, “LBJ” was a bit less influential, wasting a lot more ball ammunition in hand.
⛔ Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV. Between them, they played 41 minutes. Between them, they did not score a single point and finished 0/9 on shots (including 0/8 at 3-pts), while committing 6 bullet losses. Suffice to say that the performance of the Reaves / Walker IV duo was bad, not to say very bad, and that logically pushed Darvin Ham to rely on Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson in the fourth quarter. .
THE FOLLOWING
Miami (18-17) : trip to Denver, on the night of Friday to Saturday (03:00).
Los Angeles (14-21) : trip to Atlanta, on the night of Friday to Saturday (01:30).
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