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Tired Heat Fall to Lakers

Authored by Scott Essman - January 17, 2006 - 10:54 am

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On a night when the Miami Heat, ending a seven-game two-week road trip, were perhaps not at their best, the Lakers took full advantage, beating the visitors 100-92, pushing their current winning streak to three and their record to 21-17.

Despite 34 point from guard Dwyane Wade (who rolled a left ankle in the middle of the game), and 18 points and 10 rebounds from center Shaquille O'Neal, Miami wasn't the quicker of the two teams to the loose ball and seemed less than 100%, especially in the crucial fourth quarter. Despite an early 19-point Laker lead, the Heat actually cut the lead to three late in the fourth quarter before the Lakers pulled away.

Laker guard Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 37 and guard-forward Devean George had one of his best games of the year with 17 points. Ex-Heat forward Lamar Odom scored 19 points and provided 10 rebounds.

One sign of Heat fatigue was at the foul line where the team missed 11 of 30 shots, while the Lakers converted 27 of 31 free-throw attempts. In other aspects, the teams were similar. Miami and the Lakers each made 34 field goals and five three-pointers. The Heat had a slight advantage in rebounding 44-40. The Lakers assisted in goals 24 times while the Heat had 22.

Is this a preview of an NBA finals matchup? Not likely, but the teams could be fairly evenly paired up. At 23-16, the Heat are first in the NBA's Southeast Division. The Lakers have back-to-back road games on Thursday and Friday at Sacramento and Phoenix, respectively.