On a night Tyler Herro was off with his shot and Bam Adebayo was significantly outplayed by Anthony Davis, Erik Spoelstra's team nonetheless found a way, pushing to a 110-96 victory Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
LOS ANGELES – To say this one was there for the taking would be an understatement, considering the Los Angeles Lakers committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter and had 20 before the start of the fourth.
But again lacking Jimmy Butler, as well as remaining without Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith, the question was whether there was enough for the Miami Heat to take it.
On a night Tyler Herro was off with his shot and Bam Adebayo was significantly outplayed by Anthony Davis, Erik Spoelstra’s team nonetheless found a way, pushing to a 110-96 victory Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
While Davis was dominant with his 29 points and 16 rebounds, it largely was an uneven night for Lakers teammate LeBron James, who closed with 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting, nine assists and six rebounds, with Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. stepping up defensively in that matchup.
The Heat got 21 points from Herro, but it came on 7-of-19 shooting, with Adebayo closing with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Keeping the Heat afloat were a few unexpected contributions, including a season-high 14 rebounds from Kevin Love and a 15-point, eight-rebound contribution from Nikola Jovic in an unexpected start,
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat went into the second period up 25-18, with a 53-45 lead at halftime. From there, the Heat lead was 72-67 going into the fourth, a stage when the Lakers were 3 of 23 on 3-pointers.
After the Lakers closed within two early in the fourth, the Heat pushed back to an 84-74 lead with 8:35 to play and later moved up 93-82 with 6:23 left, with another Robinson 3-pointer making it 96-84 with 5:30 left.
The lead then grew to 103-88 on a pair of Adebayo free throws, with a Herro 3-pointer pushing the Heat lead to 106-90 in a 3-pointer with 2:14 to play, effectively ending it.
2. Wheel of lineups: With the permutations limited, with the Heat entering the night having utilized 19 lineups, they returned to one used previously only the third game of the season, opening with Adebayo, Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jovic.
It was the second start in three games for Jovic, who also started Saturday’s loss to the Utah Jazz.
Jaquez opened defensively against James.
While the Heat remained without Butler, Highsmith (concussion) and Martin (ankle), Josh Richardson returned after missing the previous four games with a back issue, entering late in the opening period.
Richardson closed at point guard, with Lowry by then with his knees wrapped in ice.
3. The draft picks: It was a night of quality efforts from the Heat’s past two first-round picks.
For Jovic, taken at No. 27 out of Serbia in 2023, he approached his first NBA double-double, after loading up on stats on the international level.
For Jaquez, taken at No. 18 out of UCLA this past June, it was a stout defensive effort against James, despite giving up three inches and 20 pounds in the matchup.
Jaquez closed with 16 points and eight assists.
4. Menacing approach: The Heat forced 10 Lakers turnovers in the first period, which tied a Lakers record. Four of those were steals by Lowry.
Creating much of the chaos was the Heat’s zone defense, with the Lakers up to 15 turnovers by halftime.
The Lakers went into the fourth with 20 turnovers, closing with 22.
5. End of road: The Heat complete their five-game western swing Friday against the Phoenix Suns, before returning to Kaseya Center for a four-game homestand against the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets.
