Miami Heat lose a close one to the shorthanded LA Lakers

No LeBron James? No Anthony Davis? No problem for the Los Angeles Lakers as they were able to defeat the Miami Heat 112-109 at the Crypto.com Arena. Even with strong performances from stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami looked incredibly sloppy and just couldn't sustain any momentum throughout this game.

When the news was released that LeBron James would be out for this contest my initial reaction was that this is big news for the Miami Heat. It certainly was big news, as it meant Miami would be entering a trap game against the Dennis Schröder led LA Lakers. If you have been a fan of Miami for as long as I have you know that they tend to play down to their competition and this was a prime example of that.

From the jump Miami was unable to contain Schröder and Russel Westbrook, which eventually opened the floor for the rest of the Laker team. Once you give a team with less talent confidence anything can happen because they are still NBA players and they are really good at basketball. Point of attack defenders like Caleb Martin, Victor Oladipo and Gabe Vincent did not do a good job of containing the Lakers ball handlers. That led to Schröder having his best game of the season as he finished with a season high 32 points on 8-of-15 shooting and a career-high 12-of-14 from the free throw line. Westbrook had a huge impact off the bench as well as he scored 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting while also putting up nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals. Just poor defensive execution throughout this game and it prevented Miami from sustaining any runs.

One thing we can be excited about is the continued growth of Bam Adebayo's game. He had 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. He was doing everything on both ends of the floor and the Lakers had no answers for him. Just an incredible all-around game from our All-Star center, but it just wasn't enough as outside of Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo the Heat got absolutely no production.

Speaking of Jimmy, his first half was nothing to brag about as he looked like he was going through the motions. However, in the second half that all changed as Butler completely dominated the opening minutes of the third quarter and rode that momentum to a 13 point period. He would eventually end the night with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting to go with four rebounds, four assists and three steals. He showed that he can flip that switch and score at will when he really wants to.

As for Oladipo, his defense wasn't at its best tonight, but he still made some impactful plays on that side of the ball. Plus, his offense continues to round into form as he's able to use his burst and ball handling to get by most defenders. He gives the Heat a primary ball handler off the bench that they did not have for the opening two months of the season. That makes a big difference. He finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists showing that he is the sixth man this team needs to compete.

Bench continues to be inconsistent with the play of Gabe Vincent and Max Strus looking like a liability at times. Also, why does Erik Spoelstra insist on using Dewayne Dedmon over Orlando Robinson? Robinson played for just three minutes in this one before being pulled for Dedmon... Not sure what Dedmon has on Spo, but whatever it is it's getting the man unwarranted playing time.

Before I close this up I want to talk about the backcourt of Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro. Maybe not the best way to end a recap, but their fit together on the court needs to be addressed at some point. Lowry is no longer a plus defender, which is understandable when you consider the fact that he's 36 years old and in his 17th year in the league. However, his impact and influence on the offensive end is not what you expect from a floor general getting paid nearly $30 million per season. He finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, four assists and two rebounds. That isn't going to get it done.

As for Tyler Herro, he was the main focus of the Lakers defensive scheme as they set up a box and 1 formation, and glued Schröder on him all game long. This was a similar coverage Herro struggled against in the playoffs and it was more of the same in this one as he scored just nine points to go with four rebounds, three assists and four turnovers. In fact, this is the worst game from Tyler in nearly a month as he's been on an absolute tear over the past couple of weeks. I expect a much better performance from him in the next game, but it is concerning that he continues to struggle when he is taken out of his comfort zone.

Next for Miami they will look to end this road trip on a positive note as they will face the Phoenix Suns on Friday January 6th at the Footprint Center. Suns will be without their best player Devin Booker, but as this most recent loss showed us, that doesn't mean anything in this league.