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Los Angeles Lakers at Miami HEAT Game Preview

The Miami HEAT host the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Get your tickets now! Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM, and television coverage is on FOX Sports Sun. You can also listen to the action live on 790 The Ticket.

1: What was your general takeaway from the second loss to the Pacers this season?

Couper Moorhead: As we mentioned in our preview before the game, the Pacers are one of the few Miami opponents against whom the HEAT do not enjoy their usual advantages when it comes to bench units. Over the course of a typical game, even against teams with multiple All-Stars, the HEAT almost always find stretches where they have the superior lineup on the court as far as across-the-board skill and talent. But the Pacers are deep, too, and with Victor Oladipo having a tough 3-of-12 shooting night their bench put up 53 points including 23 from Tyreke Evans and 18-of-31 shooting combined from Evans, Cory Joseph and Domantas Sabonis. Miami’s starters even took a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but the Pacers’ bench scoring proved to be too much even with a late flurry of threes keeping the HEAT within striking distance.

The good news is that Josh Richardson continues to shot incredibly well after a 7-of-10 performance from deep. Richardson currently has the fifth-most made threes in the league and is just five makes behind second.

Joe Beguiristain: Like in that last outing a week ago, the Pacers’ depth just proved to be too much. And while Rodney McGruder bottled up Victor Oladipo for most of the night (he held the budding superstar to just two points on 1-of-8 shooting in 30 possessions against him), Indiana’s bench went on a run in the second quarter and obtained a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the contest. Of course, the Pacers’ stifling defense also played a role in sustaining that lead, as they lived up to the billing of a top 10 team on that end of the floor. 

That said, Indiana couldn’t stop Josh Richardson on Friday.

In addition to tying a career high with seven made triples on the night, J. Rich also led a furious rally in the fourth quarter with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the period.

All told, Richardson now leads Miami with a plus-6.6 net rating this season.

That’s big time.

2: How have the Lakers changed this year?

LeBron James

Along with James, the Lakers added a complement of veteran players to fill out their roster. JaVale McGee starts at center – we should mention here that Julius Randle is now in New Orleans – Lance Stephenson is always a wild card when he’s on the court, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope adds wing depth and recently added Tyson Chandler gives them a solid rim-protecting presence off the bench. Rajon Rondo is out for over a month after breaking his hand, but the Lakers have proven players filling in all the gaps in their rotation.

Joe: Well, they got this guy named LeBron James who you may have heard of.

Seriously though, the Lakers overhauled their roster with the additions of James, JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo (who’s currently out due to a fractured right hand) and a few others. Outside of James, McGee has made the biggest impact thus far thanks to his proficiency in the pick-and-roll and ability to protect the rim.

And although a lot has been made about L.A.’s new guys (and rightfully so), stalwarts like Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart have really stepped up their game. Hart provides much-needed outside shooting to a team that doesn’t have much of it and also leads the squad in net rating among regular rotation players. Kuzma, meanwhile, has continued to run the floor well and score with relative ease.

Simply put, the Lakers are a force to be reckoned with.

3: How will this strong Lakers offense challenge Miami?

Couper: No team gets to the rim more than the Lakers, and only the Bucks have been protecting the rim better than the HEAT. Something will have to give, you would imagine, but it’s important to consider the context of those rim attacks. As potent as the Lakers offense is, they’re closer to average when it comes to the half-court. It’s in transition, where the Lakers play more than any other team as they run off both turnovers and missed shots, where they make their push. If you’ve been watching Miami this season, you know how dangerous that can be after they struggled to defend similarly high-paced teams in Sacramento and Atlanta. The difference Sunday night is that the Kings and Hawks aren’t all that efficient when they get out and run, accomplishing more with volume than quality breaks. The Lakers, however, are near-elite in the open floor.

The HEAT generally schemed James well since he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that was often because they were able to slow things down and threaten James with multiple defenders once their defense was set. This Lakers offense, though it will be on a back-to-back, is a different animal entirely.

Joe: While Los Angeles is right around league average in three-point attempts and percentage, the team’s bread and butter is in the paint. In fact, the Lakers are ranked among the league's elite in both paint-touch points per game and paint-touch field goal percentage. Again, McGee is a huge reason why that’s the case.

As such, Miami’s slew of bigs in Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo need to be stout as usual to try and combat both McGee and his backup Tyson Chandler inside. Luckily enough, Whiteside has held the opposition to shoot a meager 38.4 percent from the field, while Adebayo isn’t too far off at 40.4 percent.

We’ll see if the duo can keep it up on Sunday night.

INJURY UPDATE: James Johnson (Sports Hernia Surgery) is expected to make his season debut. Goran Dragić (Right Knee Injury), Dwyane Wade (Personal Reasons) and Dion Waiters (Left Ankle Surgery) are out.

Lakers at HEAT Head To Head

Game Notes:

  • The HEAT are 6-9, while the Lakers enter the contest at 8-7.
  • Josh Richardson leads Miami with a plus-6.6 net rating.
  • LeBron James leads Los Angeles in points (27.3), rebounds (7.7) and assists (7.2) per game.

Efficiencies (Rank):

  • HEAT Offense: 106.7 (18)
  • HEAT Defense: 107.0 (12)
  • Lakers Offense: 110.2 (9)
  • Lakers Defense: 109.7 (22)