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On Monday night, the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers will square off, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 PM Eastern. The Heat survived a tough fourth-quarter effort from Washington, while the Lakers are coming off a defeat in Orlando.
Los Angeles was behind by 14 and in a hole early on. The Lakers could only shoot 26% from beyond the arc while shooting 44% from the field. Los Angeles was outscored in the painted area and lost the turnover battle as well. Leading the pace with a 28-point effort, Anthony Davis also contributed 13 rebounds and seven blocks. Bench added sixteen.
With 111.8 points per game, Los Angeles enters this matchup in the middle of the pack. They've gone 3-2 in their past five games after failing to clear this mark in three of them. The defense has shown that it is capable of slowing down the competition long enough to help the Lakers win when the offense gets going. The offense has prospered in two crucial areas: transition and the key. Los Angeles is averaging about 54 points per game in the painted area and is now ranked seventh in the NBA.
They have been able to score almost 16 points in transition, which has them circling the top 10. The Lakers rank 29th in terms of offensive rebound rate, thus even with their high percentage of points in the paint, they frequently let scores slip away. Los Angeles is close to the bottom of the league in 3-point shooting in addition to its incapacity to create second chance opportunities. The Lakers will still require more than Taurean Prince and LeBron James' combined five 3-pointers per game, even though Miami has had difficulty slowing down the deep ball.
The Lakers are among the lowest 10 teams in the NBA for defensive efficiency, giving up 115.7 points per game on average. Although the Lakers have always taken pleasure in their defense, this season they have found it difficult to consistently stifle opposition offenses. Although they've conceded at least 120 points in back-to-back games, they rank among the top 10 in the league when it comes to opponent 2-point shooting. But the deep ball has shown to be this defense's biggest weakness.
The Lakers rank bottom 10 in 3-point defense with an average of slightly under 14 3s allowed per game. Even though it is improbable that the Heat will shoot close to 50% in consecutive games, this defense may have problems if they start to heat up. Additionally, Los Angeles must force the Heat to make single-handed trips up the court by closing off possessions. The Lakers' league-high opponent shot attempt rate is another worrying sign. Los Angeles will need to play as a cohesive one here on defense in order to force turnovers in addition to limiting possessions.
The Lakers, who will remain in Florida, are coming off of two subpar defensive games. Miami has had trouble stopping the deep ball, and their general field goal defense makes it difficult for them to win convincingly. Los Angeles has one of the best paint offenses in the NBA, and they should be able to stay in this game because they get to the line frequently.
