After a rough start to their road trip against the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers were aiming to play spoiler against the Miami Heat on South Beach.
Los Angeles came close to beating Miami, but ultimately fell short, 108-107.
Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell made it a 2-0 Lakers lead with consecutive three-pointers. Los Angeles had trouble inside with Bam Adebayo, but they tightened up defensively to take a 19-14 lead.
LeBron James seemed comfortable offensively returning in Miami as he sought his shots, though the Heat stayed right on their hip. Anthony Davis got going with a couple of layups, but the score was locked at 33 after the first quarter.
The bench for the Heat came out strong to start the second quarter, going on a 7-2 run to give their team a 40-35 advantage. In an effort to get back into the game, the Lakers began attacking the hoop and eventually tied the score at 47.
Taurean Prince battled through a knee injury to contribute strongly on both ends, including a game-winning three-pointer for the Lakers. The Heat rallied late in the second quarter, however, and the Lakers ended the half behind 62-59.
Davis went returned to the locker room before the half ended, presumably because he was hurt. A hip/groin spasm was later reported for Davis, but he returned to start the third quarter.
After a slow start to the second half, Prince scored the first two baskets, but the Lakers called timeout after Davis’s poor play forced the substitution of Christian Wood. James pumped up the crowd with some classic dunks, while Davis miraculously made it back from the locker room a second time.
As the Heat’s offense started to click, the game started to pull away from the Lakers. Because Davis was obviously out, Los Angeles went into the fourth quarter down 90-79.
James attempted to invigorate the squad with another thunderous dunk, and a three-pointer from Reaves brought the margin to six points. However, Miami replied with a brief run and Los Angeles saw D’Angelo Russell be ejected after disagreeing with the officials.
The purple and gold mounted a comeback in the middle of the fourth quarter to pull within a field goal. After James grabbed control of the game down the stretch, the Lakers had a chance to steal one, but Cam Reddish missed a game-winning three-pointer from the corner, and Los Angeles ended up losing again.
