Shorthanded Lakers steal win over Heat.
LOS ANGELES — The Lakers survived a shorthanded matchup against the Heat, stealing a win to beat Miami 112–109 for their third straight win to improve their season record to 17–21.
“I told the team before the game the only mistake they can make is to not be competitive and not be together,” said head coach Darvin Ham. “You do those two things, and you can live with the results.”
A shorthanded Lakers squad was in desperation mode, needing their supporting cast to step up, and they did just that, stealing a win against Miami without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker IV, and even Troy Brown Jr., who departed the second half with a left quad strain, who were all out with injury.
Dennis Schröder came up big for Los Angeles, living up to his nickname "The Menace," scoring a tough layup with 20 seconds left to give them a four-point lead, then hitting two free throws to seal the win with a three-point lead thanks to a Jimmy Butler missed three to send it to overtime.
“Everybody chipped in, everybody did a great job, we played together,” said Dennis Schröder with Lakers reporter Mike Trudell.
Schröder finished with a game-high 32 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three while going 8-for-15 (53%) overall, adding 4 steals, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in 40 minutes of action.
Thomas Bryant continued his success with consistent spurts of hustle and high energy, making it harder and harder for Darvin Ham not to pair him with Anthony Davis when he returns from injury.
Bryant finished with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field, notching 9 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 assist in 28 minutes.
With 15.4 seconds left, Russell Westbrook and Austin Reaves made the play of the game, with Reaves imbounding a pass inches away from the Heat’s Bam Adebayo’s grasp to Westbrook, who completed the and-1 layup, giving the Lakers a four-point lead with 14.2 seconds left.
“He was open, semi-open. So I threw it to him,” said Austin Reaves on the inbounds pass.
Westbrook finished with 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the floor, adding 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals in 35 minutes off the bench.
Reaves finished with 11 points despite struggling from the field on 3-for-11 shooting overall, adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 32 minutes of action.
The Lakers will remain in Los Angeles for their matchup against the 17–20 Atlanta Hawks this Friday at 7:30 PM on Spectrum SportsNet.
