Heat cannot climb back from early deficit, lose to Lakers 130-120 - Hot Hot Hoops

Heat Lakers (Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers bested the Miami Heat, 130-120, Sunday evening inside Crypto.com Arena.

The Heat did not lead the entire evening, falling into an 18-point first half deficit that it could not climb out of despite cutting the Laker lead to two points with over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Miami missed five of its six free-throw attempts and eight of its nine 3-point attempts over the final 12 minutes. The Lakers didn’t shoot much better, but they made timely plays over the final few minutes to put the game out of reach for the Heat, who drop to 4-3 on the season.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. continued his outstanding start to the season, scoring a game-high 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds and four assists. He was the Heat’s best player, by far, in their 10-point loss. Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson finished with 17 points apiece while Andrew Wiggins had 15 points and a team-most nine rebounds.

Miami missed 11 free-throws and shot just 27.3 percent (9-33) from beyond the arc. The Lakers outscored the Heat by 18 points from distance, despite making six fewer free-throws and hauling down one fewer rebound. The Heat also got little contributions from Nikola Jovic and Kel’el Ware, who were expected to be integral pieces heading into the season.

Lakers superstar Luka Doncic notched his first triple-double of the season, finishing with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on 9-of-22 shooting. Austin Reaves had 26 points and dished out 11 dimes, while Jake LaRavia posted 25 points and eight rebounds on just 13 shots in 35 minutes off the Lakers bench.

Heat will have to have a quick turnaround, playing the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back Monday before traveling to Denver to close their four-game road-trip on Wednesday.

Heat cannot climb back from early deficit, lose to Lakers 130-120 – Hot Hot Hoops

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