Heat Coast By Lakers

     The Miami Heat continued their Western Conference road trip as they went wire-to-wire to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 78-75 at Staples Center on Tuesday night. The Heat, who won consecutive games for the first time since November 23, are now 9-1 in their last ten encounters with the Lakers.
     Miami(17-21) shocked the entire arena and scored the first 18 points of the game. The Lakers put together a 12-4 spurt at the end of the frame and trailed 22-12 after one quarter. Dwyane Wade, who scored only four points, suffered a leg injury with just under six minutes left in the second quarter and did not return to the game. The Heat remained ahead by at least eight points for the remainder of the quarter and were up 44-34 at halftime.
     Los Angeles(12-27) was able to cut the deficit down to two points several times during the third quarter, however they were behind 61-53 as they entered the final quarter. The Lakers scored the first seven points of the fourth as they were down 61-60 with 10:18 left. It would be the closest they came from taking the lead in the game.
     Kobe Bryant was held to 3-for-19 from the field and compiled 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 31 minutes for the Lakers. Ed Davis and Jordan Hill both had a team-high 12 points for Los Angeles. Mario Chalmers put together a game-high 19 points and eight assists for Miami in 34 minutes. Hassan Whiteside came off the bench as he fell short of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds while Chris Bosh had a balanced game of eight points and eight rebounds.