Heading into Friday night’s tipoff between the Lakers and Heat in sunny Florida, Miami (12-12) had been struggling considerably, dropping three consecutive contests to Atlanta, Memphis and Milwaukee after a four-game winning streak.

More than anything else, Miami struggled because Dwyane Wade struggled, just as the Lakers used to be in trouble if Kobe Bryant was anywhere removed from the top of his game. Clearly, that’s no longer the case for a 21-3 purple and gold team.

But that’s just on the surface … To take a closer look at the Heat, I dialed up Charlotte Bobcats play-by-play voice Scott Lauer, who’s seen the Heat from his courtside seat in the radio booth twice already this year. Here’s what Lauer had to say:

MT: The Heat have managed to beat your Bobcats twice for two of their 12 wins, first getting 25 points from rookie Michael Beasley and last Monday getting 41 points from Dwyane Wade. What are your general impressions of Miami?
Lauer: The thing that stands out early on has been the infusion of the rookie play with Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers. You have two guys that are fixed in the rotation, with Chalmers in particular proving to be a steal. He’s been very good defensively, and shows signs of being a good offensive player as well. Beasley was a starter the first time we played and had 25 against us in Charlotte in Miami’s first win, but about two weeks ago Eric Spoelstra began bringing Beasley off the bench, from where the former No. 2 pick has added an offensive boost.

MT: How is Miami different with Joel Anthony starting at center and Beasley coming off the bench?
Lauer: I think they were looking for more offense off the bench, and also stabilizing the defense up front with Anthony, who is limited offensively, but anchors them defensively. I think when you’re dealing with a rookie like Beasley, you have to take his ego into account, but from what I gather there weren’t any waves created by the move. Miami has positioned itself to be a competitive team around .500 with a healthy Wade, Shawn Marion and the injection of two rookies especially, but I don’t see them being a legit contender in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, they might receive a boost if Alonzo Mourning completes another miraculous comeback, which has been reported a bit.

MT: Miami has really struggled in its three games since beating the Bobcats, getting smoked by Atlanta, Memphis and Milwaukee. Was that because you talked some trash to them after your game and put them into a mental funk?
Lauer: We just seemed to be the elixir for a lot of teams, but that was in the midst of our seven-game losing streak. It was a competitive game until Wade pulled them through it at the end, though I can assure you that Bobcats radio wasn’t involved in their struggles after our game.

MT: Let’s get back to Wade for a second – he’s putting up monster numbers with 28 points, 7.2 assists, 5.1 boards, 2.17 steals and even 1.54 blocks. Even though he’s struggled in his last three games, how astronomically better does he look this year than last?
Lauer: He’s been fantastic. He lets the game come to him so easily, and has doesn’t force the issue just like Michael Jordan. In addition to those numbers, he’s shooting and making more threes, and he’s just a special player. To be fair, there were three or four questionable calls that favored Wade, but that’s OK … He’s earned that.

MT: What’s the deal with The Matrix? He’s at 12.4 points and 8.9 rebounds, but do you think it’s lack of effort or lack of the Suns system from what you’ve seen of Miami?
Lauer: He’s somewhat of an enigma. You hear a lot of negative drama swirling around about him, and out of the Heat camp you’ve been hearing about them waiting to scoop up Carlos Boozer when he’s available next season. Plus, Boozer just announced that he’s definitely going to opt out of his contract. But with Marion, you wonder if there’s anything troubling him in the locker room? He had those issues in Phoenix as well.

MT: You mentioned being impressed with Chalmers, Miami’s rookie point guard out of Kansas? He posted 20 points, eight assists and seven boards in Miami’s most recent game. But is defense where he makes his money?
Lauer: He definitely has poise, and is a very smooth player. More importantly maybe is that it makes for a dynamic defensive backcourt with him and Dwyane Wade, and their stealing the ball has led to a lot of fastbreak opportunities for them. In fact, his athleticism has impressed me as well, and we know he’s a clutch shooter.

MT: Finally Scott, give me a quick breakdown of the Bobcats deal with the Phoenix Suns, who acquired Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary.
Lauer: This deal had the makings of what Larry Brown wants – his imprints are all over it. Brown had Raja Bell in Philadelphia, and is all about rebounding, defense and hustle, which Brown covets. Bell’s off to a slow start in Charlotte, but Brown’s happy to have him. Diaw has actually impressed me in many ways, and gives traditional fours a lot of trouble at times because of his skills. Some coaches and players have questioned Diaw’s assertiveness, but he’s shown that he has a pretty full game both offensively and defensively. Singletary had some ties with Larry Brown as well coming from the Philadelphia area, though he’s only played in one of the three games since the trade. To get those guys, you gave up arguably the best trade asset for the Bobcats in Richardson and a guy I loved in Jared Dudley, but ultimately Larry Brown turned over the roster to get guys he feels play better in his style. We’ll be in town on January 27, so you can take a closer look then.

The Lakers won last season’s series with Miami 2-0 after having split each of the previous two season series with the Heat 1-1. This will be the 41st meeting between the two franchises with the Lakers holding a 27-13 all-time lead. The Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 overall meetings with the Heat. Last season, the Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak in Miami with a 104-94 victory February 10 and are now 5-5 in their last 10 games in Miami. The Lakers have gone 5-1 in their last six home games against Miami and are 6-3 all-time against the Heat at STAPLES Center. Prior to last season, the Heat and Lakers had met on Christmas day in each of the previous three seasons. Under head coach Phil Jackson, Los Angeles is 11-5 versus Miami. Also, Lakers forward Lamar Odom played one season for the Heat, averaging 17.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in 80 games. Following that season, Odom was acquired from the Heat by the Lakers along with Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future first round draft pick in exchange for Shaquille O’Neal. Heat guard Dwyane Wade played alongside Kobe Bryant on the gold medal winning US Men’s Olympic Basketball Team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Heat guard Marcus Banks was originally included in a trade with the Boston Celtics that ultimately brought Chris Mihm to the Lakers but was later amended to include Jumaine Jones, Chucky Atkins and Mihm in exchange for Gary Payton, Rick Fox and a conditional 1st round draft pick

The Miami Heat have lost three games in-a-row, last playing Monday night at home against Milwaukee (83-98). This team has had ample time to heal and practice. This is normally a slow starting team, but we expect them to start the game fast tonight, so we must bring energy from the start.
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BRYANT PASSES CLYDE DREXLER FOR 21st ON NBA’S ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
With 28 points December 16 against New York, Kobe Bryant moved past Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Earlier this season, with 29 points November 14 against Detroit, Bryant moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the all-time list. With 22,220 points, Bryant now trails Elgin Baylor (23,194) and Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 20th and 19th respectively on the scoring list. Bryant, currently in his 13th NBA season, passed Drexler in his 890th career game. Drexler reached 21,195 points in 1,086 career games over 15 seasons. Bryant passed Bird and Payton in his 874th career game. Bird reached 21,791 points in 897 career games over 13 seasons while Payton reached 21,813 points in 1,335 games over 17 NBA seasons. With 28 points December 2 at Indiana, Kobe Bryant became the 22nd player in NBA history to score 22,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 22,000 points (30 years, 101 days), one day older than Wilt Chamberlain (30 years, 100 days) who scored his 22,000th point on 11/26/66. The next youngest to 22,000 points were Oscar Robertson (31 years, 117 days) on 3/21/70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31 years, 350 days) on 4/1/79. The youngest player in league history to accumulate 12,000 – 20,000 career points, Bryant became the 12th fastest to 22,000 points in terms of games, reaching the mark in 881 career games. Through his career, Bryant has been the 29th fastest to 15,000, the 22nd fastest to 16,000, the 20th fastest to 17,000, the 16th fastest to 18,000, the 15th fastest to 19,000, the 15th fastest to 20,000 and the 12th fastest to 21,000 points in terms of games. Last season, Bryant became the 25th player in NBA history to score 21,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 21,000 points (29 years, 194 days) and second ever under the age of 30 behind Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 184 days). Michael Jordan was the third youngest to 21,000 (30 years, 40 days). Earlier in the season, Bryant, at 29 years, 122 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and the third player ever to reach 20,000 points under the age of 30, ranking ahead of Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 134 days) and Michael Jordan (29 years, 326 days).

JACKSON MOVES PAST RED AUERBACH IN GAMES COACHED
The Lakers 116-114 victory over New York December 16 was Phil Jackson’s 1,418th game as a head coach, moving him ahead of Red Auerbach for the 12th most games coached in NBA history. Additionally, with the victory, Jackson moved within THREE wins of 1,000 for his career. Should Jackson reach the 1,000-win mark in the next 15 games, he would become the fastest coach to 1,000 career victories in NBA history, surpassing Pat Riley (1,434 career games). Already the fastest coach to 900 career victories, Jackson reached the mark in 1,264 games, 14 games fewer than Riley who held the old mark at 1,278 games. The only coach in NBA history to win better than 70 percent of his games (997-421, .703), Jackson ranks 6th all-time in terms of victories behind Larry Brown (currently 1,018 after starting the season 1,010). Earlier this season at Dallas (11/11/08), Jackson coached his 1,400th career game. Back on March 25, 2007, Jackson coached career game 1,300 to pass his mentor Red Holzman (1,299) on the all-time list. Additionally, on September 7, 2007, Jackson was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, earning induction in his first year of consideration for election. Now in his 18th season as an NBA head coach, Jackson is 997-421 for a .703 win percentage, the best in league history.

STRONG STARTS
With their loss at Sacramento December 9, the Lakers fell to 17-3 on the season, coming up two wins shy of the franchise’s best two-loss start to a season set in 1985-86 when Los Angeles began the season a franchise-best 19-2 before losing their third game. This season, the Lakers began the year 7-0, coming within four wins of the franchise’s best undefeated start to a season. Only twice in franchise history had the Lakers started the season with a better mark, going a franchise-best 11-0 to open the 1997-98 campaign and 8-0 to start the 1987-88 season. The Lakers extended their one-loss record this season to 14-1, marking the second time the Lakers have ever been at least 14-1 while falling two wins shy of the franchise’s best one-loss start which came in the form of a 16-1 record to begin the 2001-02 campaign. Currently 21-3, the Lakers have surpassed Jackson’s best 3-loss mark in his nine year tenure with the franchise (previously 19-3, 2001-02). With the Bulls, however, Jackson’s teams began the season a staggering 41-3 in 1995-96 and followed that up with a 25-3 start to the 1996-97 season. The Lakers best 3-loss record in franchise history came in 1971-72 when after starting the season 6-3, Los Angeles reeled off an NBA record 33-straight victories to improve to 39-3 before their fourth loss. The Lakers 7-0 start to the season was the second time under head coach Phil Jackson that they have opened the season 7-0 (2001-02). Only once has a Jackson-led team opened the season with a better record, with the 1996-97 Bulls going 12-0 to begin the season. Additionally, including this season, Phil Jackson led teams have now won at least 17 games before their third loss on three occasions, twice with the Chicago Bulls and now once with the Lakers – 2008-09: 17-2, 1995-96: 23-2, 1996-97: 17-2.