Can The Miami Heat Find Last Year’s Mojo To Start New Week?
Expect Big Games From James & Davis Per Our Lakers vs Heat Analysis
The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Miami Heat in a regular season matchup tonight.
The Lakers have started the season 3-3. While the Lakers haven’t played the best basketball, they’re still sitting at .500. Meanwhile, last year’s Eastern Conference Champions, the Miami Heat, are just 2-4 to begin the year.
The Heat lost some role players in the offseason and need to find replacements for those areas. One of those players was Gabe Vincent, who switched to Los Angeles in the offseason. Miami hasn’t found the same production from their role players this season.
With that said, the Heat are still favorites on their home floor tonight. Miami is currently -1, with the total sitting at 222.5.
Can the Heat get within one game of .500?
Check out our Lakers vs Heat analysis for tonight’s NBA game on NBA TV.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat 
Day/Time:
Location: Kaseya Center
Streaming: NBA TV
Lakers vs Heat Analysis
The Lakers and Heat have both played six games this season.
Neither has covered more than one game to start the season.
The Lakers began the season with four straight losses against the spread. After earning a -3 cover against the Clippers on November 1 as a 3-point favorite, the Lakers fell to the Magic last time out, 120-101. The Lakers were favored in that game and lost by 19.
Meanwhile, the total has hit the Under in four of six games for the Lakers this year. Los Angeles has plenty of depth. But there are four players currently injured on the roster.
On the other hand, the Heat haven’t covered in four straight games. Miami’s been blown out in games where they’re underdogs, losing tight games as favorites. However, the total has hit the Over and Under equally through six games.
The Lakers Are Like The Steelers?
After the Lakers lost to the Magic, 120-101 on the road as 3.5-point favorites, James compared his team to the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
His comparison was based on how the Steelers haven’t out-gained or outscored their opponents this year and still have a winning record.
The Lakers have played the same way. After a 19-point loss, the Lakers have allowed more points than they’ve allowed. Yet, Los Angeles is still 3-3 and sitting at .500 on the year.
Are The Heat Even Trying?
The Miami Heat earned an Eastern Conference Championship last year, and although the Heat didn’t win, they played in the NBA Finals last season.
So it’s hard to explain why the Heat are just 2-4 to begin the season.
All off-season, the Heat were dangling Tyler Herro in trade talks for Damian Lillard and other players. Nothing materialized, forcing the Heat to use Tyler Herro in the starting lineup.
Herro now leads all scorers on the Heat with 25.8 points per game. Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler only has 17.2 points per game this year. Butler and Adebayo have also missed one game this year through the first six games, while Herro has played all of them.
Beyond that, the Heat allowed Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to test free agency. Strus has a more significant role with the Cavaliers, while Vincent has battled injuries during his Lakers tenure so far. Still, those two were crucial to Miami’s success last year and aren’t around this year.
Still, this isn’t a lack of focus. Every team wants to win every game. But the Heat are collapsing because they’re not playing well in crunch time. While other teams are hitting shots in the fourth quarter at a high rate, the Heat are one of the worst teams in the fourth quarter this year.
So they’re trying. They’re just struggling to finish games. And we all know it matters how you finish games.
Let’s add some Lakers vs Heat analysis below.
Don’t Trust Miami’s Offense
The Miami Heat only have four players in double-figures through six games this season. Duncan Robinson, who sometimes didn’t even see the court in the playoffs, is fourth in scoring. That doesn’t check out for Miami in our Lakers vs Heat analysis.
The offense has scored just 106.9 points per 100 possessions this season. They’re also averaging just 22.9% of offensive rebounds. Miami is below average in every major offensive category, while the Lakers are about average in many defensive categories. Los Angeles specifically does well keeping teams off the foul line.
On the other hand, the Lakers are getting to the foul line at a higher rate. But Miami’s just as good at limiting foul shots. Los Angeles also won’t dominate the offensive glass and has shot just a 52.6% effective field goal percentage this season.
Luckily for the Lakers, Miami has allowed other teams to shoot a 58% effective field goal percentage. Our NBA predictions have LeBron James and Anthony Davis combining for 50 or more points to help the Lakers win at -105 on the moneyline for one of our NBA picks today. We like these NBA scores odds for the Lakers tonight.
For NBA west standings, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
