NBA: Lakers cools off Miami bringing up the heat

NBA, Lakers vs Heat: Fiery performances from Malik Monk, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis smoked Miami Heat in an overtime thriller. For Heat it was Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro leading the way.

Los Angeles Lakers were already down with injuries and only nine players available for this match. While Heat has proven their strength with a 70% winning margin. LA still was able to beat Miami Heat 120-117. It was their second straight overtime win, the last one against the Hornets.

Six players for the Lakers have been injured with the likes Lebron James, Trevor Ariza, Kendrick Nun, Talen Horton-Tucker, Austin Reaves, and Rajon Rondo. Rondo and Reaves are out with a day to day mild hamstring issues.

The absence was not felt in the offensive end. Westbrook had a fantastic game with 27 points triple-double including 12 rebounds and 14 assists. He was aiding the Lakers in the fourth quarter with his mid-rangers and supreme passing vision.

Putting 11 points in the first quarter only, Anthony Davis finished the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The defensive effort from Miami Heat gave hard time to Lakers offense especially Bam guarding AD.

The center put up a 28 points performance grabbing 10 boards along the way. Bam Adebayo was defensively very active guarding Laker’s active offense. The newly traded point guard, Kyle Lowry, is yet to show his class as a Miami Heat player. However, scoring a noticeable double-double of 18 points and 11 assists.

The young brigade went against each other. Malik Monk for the Lakers and Tyler Herro for Heat were getting huge buckets confusing the result of the game. Both players scored 27 points each and 3 assists. Malik had 6 rebounds while Herro only had 4.

For Lakers, Avery Bradley also contributed to his name. A 17 point game with a good defensive shield against Tyler Herro. With 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Tyler Herro hit a shot but Westbrook responded with his own shot.

PJ Tucker was seen flying off Tyler’s shot, which fell short, to tie the game at 23.5 seconds left. Russell Westbrook got the shot on the final possession but he misses to send the game in overtime.

Malik Monk and Anthony Davis extended the lead to five points in the overtime to put the Lakers in a healthy position.

Bam fouled out fouling Carmelo, but the Lakers committed a 5-second violation giving Miami the ball and a chance to take the lead. A missed Herro shot set Miami back, but they’d get another chance and Tyler would miss a wide-open attempt to tie the game.

L.A. was missing so many key players, and this is the most encouraging performance the team has had all year.