E Da Old Tymer

The Los Angeles Lakers (5-2) extended their win streak Sunday night defeating the high octane offense of the Miami Heat (3-3) 130-120.  Guard Luka Doncic once again lead the scoring effort for the purple and gold with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, recording his first triple-double of the season.   Fellow guard Austin Reaves also continued to be thorn in the side of opposing defenses, scoring 26 points and leading the team with 11 assists.  All of the Lakers starters scored in double-digits tonight, with Marcus Smart adding 11 points and Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes each providing 15 points, making this one of the Lakers most balanced scoring efforts this season.

On the other side of the floor, the Miami Heat struggled to find their rhythm.  Star center Bam Adebayo had 17 points in the losing effort but was sluggish from the opening tip.  Guard Pelle Larrson also dropped 17 points on an effective 6-10 shooting from the field.  Andrew Wiggins chipped in 15 in his 37 minutes of floor time but struggled offensively, shooting just 37 percent, including 1-6 from long range.  Davion Mitchell and Kel’el Ware did what they could, with efforts of 8 and 7 points respectively, however, it became pretty apparent that overcoming the absence of their leading scorer in Norman Powell proved too much, keeping the struggling Heat in the L column for their second consecutive loss.

The Lakers and the Heat both received a jolt from the bench, with new acquisition Jake LaRavia scoring 25 points on 10-13 shooting with 2-3 from behind the arch while also grabbing 8 rebounds in his 35 minutes off of the bench.  LaRavia is turning out to be a great addition to the roster, averaging just under 13 points and showing he can produce big numbers when given the time.   For Miami, it was reserve forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.  who came ready to play for the Heat, torching the Lakers defense for 31 points on 69 percent shooting and pulling down 8 rebounds.  However, it was a very quiet night for the Heat bench, with Nikola Jovic and Simone Fontecchio adding 9 points each and Dru Smith scoring 7 points.

The Lakers controlled game from the start, applying aggressive defensive pressure to the short-handed Heat, including a Marcus Smart steal that resulted in a break-away dunk by Rui Hachimura.  Jaxson Hayes excelled in his starting role at center in place of DeAndre Ayton, who is sidelined with back spasms.  The Lakers were also without starting forward LeBron James, who missed his seventh game of the season with sciatica.  There’s no doubt that the scoring output of both Doncic and Reaves has carried this Laker team offensively.  Let’s hope this recipe continues to cook up wins.

The Lakers won’t get a chance to rest as the they hit the Oregon trail to take on the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night.