Heat Drop Lakers

     There is usually national hype when these two clubs meet during the regular season as the Miami Heat got by the Los Angeles Lakers 100-94 at American Airlines Arena on Wednesday night. The game did not have the same feel as it has in recent years without the participation of Kobe Bryant for the Lakers and Chris Bosh for the Heat.
     The first quarter began as Los Angeles(16-44) jumped out 11-4 by the 8:22 mark, but Miami(27-33) responded with nine straight points and were up 28-25 after one quarter. The Lakers, who are now 1-10 in the second part of back-to-back games, would close out halftime ahead 51-46.
     Dwyane Wade scored ten points in the third quarter as the Heat stayed ahead 76-73 at the end of the period. Los Angeles started the fourth quarter on a 11-4 spurt and got up 84-80 with 7:28 to go. Goran Dragic put in his 500th career three-point shot to give the Heat a 90-88 lead with 3:30 remaining.
     Miami was able to get a three-point margin twice in the final stretch. Hassan Whiteside dropped a one-handed slam off an ally-oop from Wade to make it 95-92 with 57 seconds left and then Wade connected with Whiteside on a lead pass in the lane for a lay-up with 21 seconds to go and gave the Heat a 97-94 lead.
     Wade had a team-high 25 points for the Heat and six assists in 31 minutes while Dragic added 21 points along with six assists. Whiteside compiled a career-high 25 rebounds and also had 18 points. It was the fourth time this season that he put together at least 20 rebounds in a game.
     The Lakers were able to get seven players who scored in double digits. Two of their reserves had double-doubles as Ed Davis landed 14 points with 12 rebounds while Jordan Hill dropped 13 points along with ten rebounds. Jeremy Lin fell short of a double-double as he had 12 points and nine rebounds.