The Lakers are deep. At least for now. More than a month ago, that team that started a convincing and exciting 3-0 championship has now collapsed and been replaced by another that presented the same problems as last year and maybe a few more. At least they are here tonight. And from there it was 134-93 that came from some Heat who arrived without any doubts but left with very different feelings.
Miami soon showed its dominance of the situation by reaching double figures in a few minutes, but even then it was impossible to imagine how far its superiority would go. Boasting good circulation, movement without the ball and, above all, a surprising three-point success (24/47), they made the difference grow until it reached the point of blushing, and dissatisfied continued they are bleeding a seriously wounded rival.
With a difference of 41 points in the final score, the Lakers suffered the eighth worst result since the merger of the ABA and NBA and, of course, the worst of the season. One that forces us to rethink many things. Except for LeBron James, who scored 29 points, trying to keep his team alive as much as possible, no one in gold and purple showed his face. Anthony Davis, who had a terrible 3/14 shooting that left him with 8 points, came up big, but overall no one served as Akron’s support all night.
And this is when we talk about offense, because when we talk about defense not even LeBron is safe. The Angelenos were overwhelmed by the rebound, the defensive rotations were slow, the plays that seemed to be effortlessly piled up one after another … And so, the distance grew until it became a joke, then a brunette, and finally a problem that the team must face sooner or later.
Hero burned
On the other side, the Heat They enjoyed like never before this season, led by Tyler Herro who, with his 9/16 triples, led the party with 31 points. But almost everything Spoelstra’s team did was a result of teamwork and collective effort, as 42 out of 52 baskets came after assists and, except for Herro, no player dominated the others and the score was somewhat scattered.
In fact, 10 of the guys on the list made at least one triple on the night, thus helping to tie the franchise record with 24 hits from the perimeter. Those in Florida equaled the success achieved in 2022 against the Thunder, thus giving themselves a necessary joy in which they tried to hold on to start growing and reverse the course of a season with, at least so far, more shadows than lights.