On a night when a key star was sitting out for both teams, the Lakers came out ahead and beat the Heat 130-120 in their only meeting this regular season at the Crypto.com Arena.
The Heat did not have Tyler Herro, who is sidelined after surgery on his left ankle. Meanwhile, the Lakers did not have LeBron James, who is out with sciatica issues, until the middle of November. But their teammates played hard in their absence and gave a solid show to the LA audience.
Luka Doncic finished the night with a triple-double as he had 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, with three steals as well. However, it was a forgettable night for the Slovenian superstar, who shot 1-for-11 from the three-point line (9%). Following the game, he spoke to the media about his shooting struggles.
“I think we shared the ball great tonight. Obviously, I think we could have like 150 points, honestly. If AR and I hit some shots, we would probably get 150. But I think we started playing the game well defensively and were good at sharing the ball,” said Doncic candidly.
“I mean, process is, of course, there are 74-75 games left, obviously there are going to be off-nights. Just get better shots, that’s all. Forget about the shots, we got the win, that’s the point. So move on and try to get another win,” said Doncic upon a reflection of his own performance tonight.
The well-synchronized backcourt duo of Austin Reaves and Doncic both had at least 10 assists each. This led to the Lakers having six total players in double-digit scoring.
Reaves finished the game with 26 points, 11 assists, and four rebounds, while shooting 4-of-14 from the three-point line (28.5%). But the duo also combined for 26 missed shots in 44 attempts, as they both went 9-for-22 from the field. Even Reaves spoke about his struggles in the game in the post-game media scrum.
“We did a lot of good things, but it could have been better if Luka and I had made a shot. But the supporting cast, everyone around that, played well. Jake, another big game. Just passed the ball, got open looks, and most of us made them; some of us didn’t,” said Reaves.
Earlier this season, there was a point in time when the Lakers’ coaching staff was concerned about playmaking for the team. Tonight, we saw the pinnacle of what too much playmaking would look like for the Lakers; it’s the opposite end of the spectrum.
Jake LaRavia was the key third option for the Lakers tonight. LaRavia, who came off the bench, finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals, while shooting 76.9% from the field and 66.7% from the three-point line.
The star backcourt duo now seems to be finding its feet with the Lakers. I only anticipate them getting better when LeBron James returns to action.
