SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
The Los Angeles Lakers will travel to Miami to face the Heat for the first contest of a short 2-game road trip on Thursday, March 1st at 4:30 PM PST / 7:30 PM EST. This is the first time the teams have played this season. The Heat can pose a challenge for the Lakeshow who are trying to grab a fourth win in a row over the current Eastern Conference 8-seed. The Heat are gunning for their third straight.
Laker fans got some awful news when they heard Josh Hart fractured his fourth metacarpal in his left hand during Wednesday's practice. The hand is broken now with no timetable to return and the Lakers don't have a crucial player who excelled during their recent 3 game win streak. He was also a standout player during their hot streak before the Clarkson/Nance trade. It's looking like the Lakers got a steal when they got the #30 draft pick from Utah in a trade. Josh Hart hustles on defense, drains threes and rebounds like a power forward. Kyle Kuzma affectionately calls him "Josh Barkley". Hart's absence will be a real buzzkill for the team and for fans. In addition, the Lakers bought out Corey Brewer's contract so he won't be available for the team either.
Brewer was a great addition to the team who definitely had some moments off the bench. However, the Lakers have been prospering these last 3 games thanks continued excellence from their young bucks. Julius Randle is really getting a handle on his offense. He's bullying dudes down low and I think people are finally starting to understand how physically strong he is. He's been able to control that strength to a accumulate a higher field goal percentage close to the basket. In the last two years, he would often throw up a prayer and they'd often rim out. Now those shots still look like prayers but they're actually going in! A few games ago he notched a triple-double versus Dallas with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. He put up two solid double-doubles after that (12 & 13/19 & 10). Randle's face off with Whiteside in the paint should be intriguing .
The Miami Heat come into this game winning 3 of their last 10 games. They were in a real slump but have won their last two in a row. Dwayne Wade capped off their last one with a clutch last-second bucket to secure a win over the rejuvenated Philadelphia 76ers 102-101 back on Tuesday. He scored 27 points and played like the old Dwayne Wade that night. Dwayne found out that one of the kids in the tragic Parkland school shooting was a fan of his - and they buried him in Wade's jersey. That really touched Wade and he's dedicated the rest of his season to that fan.
Everyone's happy seeing Dwayne back in a Miami jersey but Heat fans are particularly ecstatic. His presence is a real boost to the development of Hassan Whiteside, who has had moments this season where he's seemed immature and unengaged. In the three games since the All-Star break, he's averaging a more effective 15 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. Can Old Man Wade follow up his incredible 27 point performance with another against LA, or will he be too tired/sore? Whiteside might have to step up to prove if this progress is real or a fluke.
This match up has the chance to go either way if you ask me. The Lakers are on a longer hot streak than the Heat, but LA tends to play noticeably worse on the road. Still, the Lakers tend to rise to the occasion when they play opponents they aren't favored against in recent memory (See OKC, Boston, Spurs, Pacers). My gut tells me Dwayne Wade has an ineffective game but Hassan Whiteside steps up huge, taking advantage of the Lakers lack of rim protection. They walk into the locker room at the buzzer with a hotly contested victory 105-102.
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