Lakers fall to Heat despite late rally.
The Lakers’ late rally was cut short against Miami falling to the Heat 113–107 after getting the score within five late in the 4th after trailing by as many as 26. Tonight’s loss drops the Lakers record back under .500 at 23–24, as they have now lost five of their last seven games (2–5).
In a matchup with Miami’s starting point guard Kyle Lowery and most improved player candidate Tyler Herro, the Lakers needed all the help they could get, as Anthony Davis was questionable before tonight’s matchup, being close to returning from an MCL sprain within this current six-game road trip.
Head coach Frank Vogel gave an update on the plan for Anthony Davis’ return, saying: “I don’t know yet. Tomorrow he’s going to get some work in.”
LeBron was the Lakers leading scorer for the 17th game in a row (starting on Dec, 19th vs Bulls), finishing with 33 points on 54% (12-for-22) shooting overall, adding 11 rebounds, 4 assists in 39 minutes played.
After the loss, LeBron spoke on the Lakers’ defense in the first half, saying it was “not a way to win on the road.” Later explaining: “We dug ourselves too much of a hole early in the game.”
Despite going 0 for 3 overall from three, Russell Westbrook had a solid night for the Lakers, finishing with a near triple-double of 24 points, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds in 31 minutes, shooting 60% (9-for-15) overall from the floor.
The Lakers’ next matchup comes on a road against the 29–16 Brooklyn Nets in their third away game of a six-game road trip.