Following a great team win against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers travel back home to face the Miami Heat. In a matchup of the two towns with notorious night-lives, we get to see two old teammates face each other one last time. Both regarded as two of the best draftees from 2003, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are looking to see whose team can come out on top, they’re both 15-15 against each other.
In the team’s last visit to South Beach, LeBron James dropped 51 points in the absence of Wade, who called that performance “disrespectful”. Recall that even with the outcome set to be a Lakers victory, LeBron took a 3-pointer just because Lance Stephenson dared him to.
The Miami Heat are currently on a two-game win streak as they previously downed the Clippers and Suns. The Lakers, on the other hand, are 4-1 in their last five games. In those two wins, the Heat got to see what the future has in store for them by the play of Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo akin to what the Lakers had in the past, seeing a changing of the guard. Winslow has scored in double digits seven out of the past nine games and dropping 20 and 21 respectively against the Suns and Clippers. Bam Adebayo’s play was impressive as well.
Dwyane Wade had an impressive showing last game too against the Clippers, who have one of the best records in the Western Conference with the 15-year veteran amassing 25 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
The Lakers’ very own veteran from that draft class has been playing pretty well as of late as well. This time it looks like there has been more of a balanced effort from the team. It’s been a topic of discussion lately but with Kyle Kuzma playing as well as he has LeBron James does not have to be relied on as much. With Svi Mykhailiuk getting more minutes, it is worth watching to see if his shot starts to fall more as gets more opportunity.
As the Lakers have the injuries to Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo, the Heat have a semi-healed Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, and Tyler Johnson. The latter two are game-time decisions, while Rondo and Ingram will miss the game.
The Lakers will play the Heat at Staples at 7:30pm PST. The game will be televised on Spectrum SportsNet and NBA TV.
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