Miami Heat complete comeback against banged up Lakers

MiamiHeat115

Despite another 19-point lead, the Lakers let things slip away in Miami.

Sloppy play in the fourth quarter was one of the many things wrong. Thursday’s road game was the Lakers’ to lose, and they did just that.

Lou Williams was the team’s scoring leader from the bench with 27.

Outside of that, Los Angeles saw all starters reach double figures except Brandon Ingram. The rookie from Duke only had four points, and has struggled heavily recently.

With the loss, the team is now 11-21 on the season and stuck in a three-game losing streak.

The lack of rebounding presence is what cost the Lakers the most tonight. Out-rebounded 47-40, the Heat were able to use their size to impose their will.

Above all else, the glaring issue came in the fourth quarter. Stopping Justice Winslow shouldn’t be too hard.

Instead of getting the non-shooter comfortable on the outside, they let him take over. Winslow exploded for 23 points and 13 rebounds, leading Miami to the win.

The Heat aren’t necessarily making a playoff push this season, but they made the Lakers’ chances much worse. Los Angeles has also lost to Cleveland and Charlotte on their current losing streak.

As the young core continues to obviously struggle, the question of whether or not they need a superstar remains unanswered. Last season we saw just how much the presence of Kobe Bryant distracted them.

Hard to imagine the team going down that road — at least not yet.

With the Heat behind them, Los Angeles turns to Orlando for an attempted conquest of the Magic.

Following their second consecutive game in the state of Florida, they’ll prepare for Christmas Day.

They’ll be up against a hungry Clippers team, and primed for a blowout if they can’t control themselves better.