Coming off a poor defensive effort in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Miami Heat finished off their stay in Los Angeles on Wednesday night with a 110-96 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers to sweep the season series and improve to 20-14.
For a large portion of the game, the Heat’s offense had ugly stretches with sloppy fastbreaks off of steals to go along with missing many open looks to begin the game. But despite the bad moments, each player in Erik Spoelstra’s shortened eight-man rotation was able to finish in double figures.
Everyone had their scoring moments, but the key scoring stretch to give Miami the cushion it needed was Duncan Robinson scoring 11 of his 13 points in the final frame.
Before the fourth quarter began, Robinson only had two points and was missing open looks. But that didn’t stop Robinson from continuing to fire off shots. Robinson’s most crucial make was a tough, contested corner 3 with the shot clock winding down to put the Heat up 77-72 after Los Angeles cut the lead to two in the early part of the fourth quarter.
It’s only the ninth time in Heat history that eight players finished with double figures in a game, an accomplishment that highlights the Heat’s depth as a strength this season.
After being left out of the rotation Monday night against the Clippers, Nikola Jovic was inserted into the starting lineup for the third time and put together his best game of the season. Jovic finished with a season-high 15 points and eight rebounds while shooting an efficient 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Miami has struggled in transition for most of the season, but one player that can help in that department is Jovic with his ability to space the floor and handle the ball on the break.
Jovic also played a season-high 28 minutes and received Spoelstra’s trust to play him in long stretches despite picking up four fouls. In other instances where Jovic picked up quick fouls, Spoelstra would pull Jovic from the game and would not see the court again.
This is the most comfortable Jovic looked in a game this season. And with his confidence continuing to grow with the help of Jimmy Butler, Miami hopes Wednesday night’s performance is something the 20-year-old can build on.
With Wednesday night’s game being the Heat’s last in California until February, Jaquez made sure he left his hometown supporters in attendance with a highlight that they won’t soon forget.
Midway through the fourth quarter with Miami beginning to extend its lead, Jaquez was defended by LeBron James. Jaquez drove his way into the low post — where he’s been lethal all year — turned his back to the basket and hit a textbook fadeaway over the outstretched arm of LeBron, drawing an excited reaction from the crowd and the broadcast.
Jaquez already has an impressive rookie highlight reel, but hitting a fadeaway over one of the greatest players of all time will be near the top of the list of the many impressive moments Jaquez has had.