L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat
Time: 6 PM CST (ESPN)
Spread: LAL -5.5
Total: 212
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Los Angeles Lakers are atop the Western Conference with a 22-3 record, including a 12-1 record on the road. The Lakers take on the Miami Heat in Miami as 5.5-point favorites according to NBA oddsmakers. The over/under is set at 212 points, and the game will air at 6 PM (CST) as the first of an ESPN doubleheader.
LAKERS NEWS
The Los Angeles Lakers have won its last nine games, and everything simply appears to be falling into place once again for the Lakers, which is not really a surprise now that LeBron James is surrounded by the type of talents he prefers (not young ones!).
Anthony Davis has thrived as a Laker, and even Dwight Howard is experiencing something of a renaissance while playing with LBJ. He simply makes everyone better, whether it is inspiring his teammates to a higher level of play, or aiding their scoring with his deft passing abilities.
While there has been (some) discussion of James’ defensive abilities beginning to decline, his offense is showing little of that decline. He is averaging 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 10.8 assists per game, and he is making Davis look better than ever before (which might not be that hard considering how disastrous his career had been in New Orleans to this point).
Davis is averaging 27.2 points per game while attempting 19.1 field goals a night (trails LeBron here by just 0.9 shots per game). The Lakers are still hoping for a lot more from some players, particularly Kyle Kuzma, who has been slow in rebounding from his early-season injury.
Kuzma is the No. 3 scorer at 11.1 per game, but the Lakers really would probably prefer it if he could up that close to 15 per game since he is the natural No. 3 option in the offense after gutting so much talent to acquire Davis. Rajon Rondo, too, is coming along somewhat slowly, though perhaps expectations were not really that high for the veteran guard to begin with.
The most impressive and sneaky addition has certainly been Howard. He is showing all the defensive instincts, talents, and communication aspects that once made him a three-time defensive player of the year. Now able to focus fully on defense, he is making a bigger impact than any other player in the league averaging single-digit scoring. His 6.8 points per game are nearly all “opportunity buckets,” and his 1.8 blocks/steals barely even speak to the dominance he has shown on that end of the court. Albeit, Howard plays just under 20 minutes a game now, though, so extending those numbers to a per-36 status puts him among the league’s defensive leaders.
And again, this was a Lakers team expected to struggle defensively. It has not. It is also scoring the ball so well, that even if some struggles happen this should be a contending team by the end of the season, as all early indications show the Lakers to be among the league’s elite—again.
HEAT NEWS
The Miami Heat lead the Southeast division as one of the NBA’s early surprise teams. Miami has won its last three and is 18-6 thus far.
The Heat seems to be really adapting to having Jimmy Butler as its leader. He has increased the defensive intensity, and Miami’s offense ranks No. 12 in the Association at 112 per game. Defensively the Heat limit teams to 106.2, good for a differential of +5.8 points.
Miami has moved past the play of Hassan Whiteside and instead promoted Bam Adebayo as the premier big man of the team. He has fully responded. Adebayo is averaging 15.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while functioning as a post playmaker. Butler is the key cog, though, at 20.6 points and seven assists per game. That is not to ignore the great play of undrafted rookie Kendrick Nunn, the No.2 scorer behind Butler at 16.2 points and 3.4 assists per game. For a team that was expected to have offensive issues, it has been far from the case. Miami is shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 33.1 percent on threes (33.1 attempts per game). Rounding out the rotation are veteran point guard Goran Dragic and rookie Tyler Herro. Both have been essential.
While Dragic’s role has declined, he is still seeing 28.7 minutes per game and averaging just under 16 points per game. Herro is already a key rotation player, playing 28.7 minutes per game and averaging 13.9 points per game while shooting 37.9 percent from three. All in all, the Heat are both a deep and talented team and far better than expected. Credit some of that to Erik Spoelstra, but the rest of the credit falls on a team of players that are all outperforming preseason expectations.
