LeBron James ignites Lakers to comeback win over Heat

A well-balanced offensive attack pushed the Lakers to a win over the Heat on Wednesday night.

The Lakers break their losing streak with an offensively dominant 117-108 win against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Anthony Davis scored 22 points to go with his 11 rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks. LeBron James ended with 22 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. Rui Hachimura pitched in with 23 points and eight rebounds.

Max Christie went 6-12 from the field for 16 points. Austin Reaves had 14 points and 14 assists. Gabe Vincent had one of his best games as a Laker with 14 points and four assists.

It was an offensively charged start to the first quarter with both teams scoring in bunches. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Tyler Herro was lighting it up from behind the arc, making all four of his attempts. Rui started off shooting well for L.A. with seven quick points.

The Heat, at one point, were shooting 76% shooting, while L.A. was at 66%. AD was the first Laker in double digits. With 2:21 left, the Lakers were leading, but the Heat kept converting from behind the arc. Miami then closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a lead of four.

In the second quarter, L.A.’s defense was atrocious and their offense was just as poor. The Lakers missed seven straight shots until Rui stopped the bleeding with a layup.

Gabe followed Hachimura up with a much-needed 3-pointer and was also doing the dirty work, effecting plays and defending. As a team though, L.A. was scrambling with their defensive assignments, often looking lost.

Herro started a perfect seven for seven from the field, five of those being 3-pointers. He finally missed a shot as the quarter was winding down. There wasn’t much good for the Lakers in this quarter.

At halftime, the Heat were up 66-54.

The second half began with a turnover for the Lakers, but they scored seven straight shortly after to cut the deficit to five. Jaime Jaquez Jr. drained a three to stop some of Miami’s discombobulated start. The Heat continued to build on their lead to go up double digits again until Austin knocked down a 3-pointer.

Herro missed two attempts from behind the arc. LeBron drained two 3-pointers and the purple and gold suddenly found themselves down by just one. Miami then went up by eight, with Herro heating up again.

As the quarter winded down, AD scored four points to ignite some more offense for the purple and gold. They cut the deficit to two.

Terry Rozier kicked things off for Miami with a runner down the lane. Gabe countered by draining a 3-pointer for the Lakers giving them the lead. A pass by Austin to Jaxson Hayes for a dunk put L.A. up by three. A lob by Austin to LeBron for an emphatic dunk had everyone excited. This was the first time all game the Lakers were playing better defense and their offense was excelling because of it.

It was turning into a fun back and forth battle with both teams scoring at a high level. A midrange shot by Alec Burks and a 3-pointer by Nikola Jovic cut the deficit to two for Miami at the midway point.

Out of a timeout, LeBron scored seven straight points to put the Lakers up by their largest lead of nine. Max sealed the deal with a basket.

Key Takeaways:

Defense is a major achilles heal for the Lakers, they often leave shooters wide open and scramble around, missing assignments. They won’t be successful if they can’t string together some stops.

Gabe Vincent revenge game, baby!

The Lakers’ next game will be Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.