As the Miami Heat and host Los Angeles Lakers work toward better health for the new year, they will get a chance to compare notes when the teams meet on Wednesday.
The Heat absorbed a 121-104 defeat on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday without Jimmy Butler (foot), Caleb Martin (ankle), Josh Richardson (back) and Haywood Highsmith (concussion protocol).
Butler and Highsmith will be out again on Wednesday. Martin is doubtful, and Richardson is questionable.
The Lakers’ veteran duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has been relatively healthy, but the supporting cast has dealt with bumps and bruises. Los Angeles closed December with seven losses in nine games shortly after its title in the NBA in-season tournament.
In the Heat’s first stop in Los Angeles, Bam Adebayo recorded 21 points and 15 rebounds on Monday, and Kevin Love added 17 points off the bench. Love was not the only UCLA product to make a solid showing, with rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. adding 15 points for the Heat in his homecoming.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win, but I was still happy to come out here and play,” said Jaquez, who will make another appearance in front of family and friends on Wednesday.
The Heat struggled in the second half while short-handed, getting outscored 36-27 in the third quarter before scoring just 19 points in the final period. On defense, Miami watched the Clippers shoot 58.8 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from 3-point range.
“Defensively, we can be better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s not taking away from anything that the Clippers did. We struggled again in one-on-one situations, whether it was in the man or in zone, when they just kind of isolated in the zone. Repeated attacks off the dribble.”
The Lakers return home after a two-game trip, where they lost 108-106 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday and 129-109 to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
James scored 34 points to go along with eight assists against the Pelicans, while Davis had 20 points and 10 rebounds. But Los Angeles was without Cam Reddish (groin) and D’Angelo Russell (tailbone).
The Lakers were outrebounded 47-35 as the Pelicans shot 51.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from distance.
Rui Hachimura made just his fourth start of December in the loss to the Pelicans, with Lakers coach Darvin Ham saying it was a look he intended to use more often going forward. But Hachimura played less than eight minutes before departing with a calf injury.
Hachimura will miss Wednesday’s game, while Russell is doubtful. James is questionable with an illness.
If there is a reason for optimism moving forward for the Lakers, it is that 11 of their next 12 games will be played in Los Angeles — 10 at home and one at the Clippers. The Lakers are 11-4 at home this season and 6-13 on the road.
“So we have to understand that, yes, just because we’re home we really can’t relax now,” James said. “It definitely feels better being in your own bed, but at the end of the day, we still got to go out and compete because teams are going to come into our building looking to do the same thing they’ve been doing with us being on the road.”
–Field Level Media
