NOTES & QUOTES
Heat Starting Five: Antonio Snow, Dwyane Wade, Josh Richardson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hassan Whiteside
Summary: Miami was looking to get back their loss in Los Angeles. The Lakers were looking to bounce back from a loss to Memphis three nights prior. Both teams are fighting to remain above .500 this season.
The Lakers got on a run early as the Heat seemed to look lost on defense. They managed to pull themselves together to get the game tied at 37 in the second quarter. LeBron James was heavy on the defense as he came away with back to back steals on Antonio Snow for 4 quick points to push Los Angeles’ lead.
Miami trailed 49-56 at halftime, but they would catch up quickly as Snow put his midrange game to work to stretch out the Lakers defense and make room for Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo to maneuver. Both players scored 12 points each in the win.
Snow played well on both sides of the ball. He was a big catalyst for Miami’s defense. The Heat scored 18 points off of 11 Lakers’ turnovers. Snow led all in scoring with 31 points in a big win for Miami.
Key Stats for MIA: 44/80 (55%) - FG| 10/24 (42%) –3PT|17/19 – (89%) – FT| 18 – 2nd Chance Points|37 – Bench Points|57 – Rebounds| 28 - Assists
Key Stats for LAL: 43/79 (54%) - FG| 8/22 (36%) –3PT|2/3 - (66%) – FT| 7 – 2nd Chance Points|22 – Bench Points|30 – Rebounds| 29 – Assists
Antonio Snow on besting LeBron and the Lakers: Feels good. We weren’t going to take that loss in Miami lying down. I told LeBron as such. Seriously, the team played great tonight. We knew we had to get our defense tight above all else. Cut the head off the snake. Contain LeBron. We did that. Great team effort tonight.
LeBron James on back to back losses: We’re just struggling a little bit right now. Loss to Memphis, loss to Miami. We’ll get it back. Just need to regroup. Opposition showed a lot of heart tonight. They dug their heels in and got a win on us.
Top Performers
Miami Heat
Antonio Snow – 31 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST
Dwyane Wade – 14 PTS, 5 AST, 2 STL
Josh Richardson – 13 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL
Los Angeles Lakers
Kyle Kuzma – 26 PTS
LeBron James – 20 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST
JaVale McGee – 12 PTS, 8 REB