After losing eight of their last 11 games, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home for the start of 2024, and they hoped that a home-heavy schedule in January would be the elixir for their poor play.
They started that home-heavy stretch by facing a Miami Heat team that was without leading scorer Jimmy Butler. One may have thought that was a big advantage for L.A.
Instead, the Lakers came out looking discombobulated. They were sluggish offensively early. They committed 10 turnovers, shot just 33.3% and scored only 18 points in the first quarter. The Heat weren’t that much better, but they led by as many as 11 in the opening period and their zone defense had L.A. confused and unsure how to operate or attack. Miami led 53-45 at halftime.
The Lakers slowly clawed their way into the contest in the third quarter. They came within three points late in the period, only to fall behind again by double digits early in the fourth period. From there, the Heat kept them in check and handed them a 110-96 defeat.
Miami didn’t play very well itself. It was outrebounded by 15, outscored by 18 in the paint and had seven fewer free-throw attempts. However, the Lakers were their own worst enemy. They committed 21 turnovers, were outscored by seven in fast-break points and shot 4-of-30 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Heat shot 16-of-42 from downtown, meaning the Purple and Gold were outscored by a humiliating 36 points in that department alone.
In the end, L.A. collectively lacked energy and intensity, and Miami’s zone defense made the Lakers’ offense as slow as molasses.
Anthony Davis: A
Davis was one of only two Lakers players who played a truly excellent game. The team seemingly forgot to get the basketball to him in the low post early. But in the third quarter, they started to get the ball to him more often, and he went to work. He finished with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, 18 rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and two steals.
Unfortunately, Los Angeles stopped going to Davis down the stretch. As a result, he had two made baskets in the fourth quarter as the Lakers tried but failed to stay in the game.
Taurean Prince: D
After shooting 46.4% from 3-point range in December, Prince went into the freezer on Wednesday. He missed all six of his shots, including five 3-point attempts. He finished with five rebounds, two assists and zero points.
This would’ve been the type of game some darts from downtown by Prince would’ve greatly helped, especially considering Miami was in a zone defense for much of the evening.
Cam Reddish: F
Reddish missed two of L.A.’s previous three games with a sore groin, but he returned and was in the starting lineup against the Heat. However, he made absolutely no impact on either end of the floor. In 19 minutes, he missed his lone field goal attempt and committed four turnovers. His only positive contribution was one assist.
Austin Reaves: A
Reaves returned to the starting lineup in this game, and he did his part to help the Lakers compete, unlike most of his teammates. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe, giving him 24 points, and he also added eight assists and five rebounds.
LeBron James: D
This was one of the worst games James has had in recent memory. He struggled in the first half: He shot 2-of-9 from the field, and he never really got himself going. For the game, he shot 6-of-18 and missed all six of his attempts from downtown, which limited him to 12 points.
While James contributed nine assists and six rebounds, this was simply an unacceptable performance from him on a night in which L.A. needed him to lead from the front.
Christian Wood: B-plus
Wood did a good job boxing out and going after rebounds. He grabbed eight boards in 23 minutes, and, offensively, he helped by making half of his 10 shots and scoring 13 points. The big man also chipped in three assists and one blocked shot.
After seemingly falling out of the team’s rotation recently, Wood has played significant minutes in each of its last four games. Even better, he’s starting to play solid ball, especially on the offensive end.
Max Christie: B-minus
Christie made a contribution with 14 points in 28 minutes, and he did a good job of attacking closeouts instead of simply settling for the 3-pointer every time. He did have two early careless turnovers on back-to-back possessions early in the second quarter, but after that, he settled in and got into a decent flow offensively.
This wasn’t the prettiest of games for him — he shot 5-of-12 overall and 2-of-9 from downtown — but he was aggressive offensively, which is something the Lakers need from him. They know they will always get a strong effort defensively and on the boards from him.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
Vanderbilt was practically invisible against Miami. In 16 minutes, he went scoreless and had just two rebounds.
Jalen Hood-Schifino: D
With D’Angelo Russell out due to a tailbone contusion and Gabe Vincent recovering from knee surgery, head coach Darvin Ham went to Hood-Schifino early in the second quarter. The rookie guard shot 0-of-4. On the season, he’s 6-of-28 from the field. He seemingly can’t throw a pea in the ocean, even if he’s standing in the ocean in waist-deep water.
Hood-Schifino’s only positive contribution in six minutes was two rebounds.
Jaxson Hayes: Incomplete
Hayes made no contributions on the stat sheet in one minute of playing time.
