The Miami Heat (21-6) will head to Hollywood this Christmas for a 5:00 p.m. ET matchup with the depleted Los Angeles Lakers (13-15) who are reeling from an injury to star guard Kobe Bryant, and recent verbal barbs from head coach Mike D'Antoni aimed at disgruntled fans. Watch the game on ABC or live stream it here. Heat fans can hear the action on 560 WQAM, while Lakers fans can find the radio broadcast on 710 ESPN.
The Heat are rolling along on a five-game winning streak entering today's matchup, with their latest win coming in overtime against Atlanta. In that win LeBron James scored a team-high 38 points, to go with eight rebounds and six assists.
"Obviously, after going through what we experienced last year in The Finals, it's never over," James said. "So we just keep fighting until the end."
"He's playing at a very, very high level, gets better every year, which is scary," D'Antoni said. "You try to just contain him as well as you can." Playing at a high level is an understatement. Through 27 games, James is scoring 25 points per game on an almost unfathomable 59.9 percent shooting from the field. He's averaging 6.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists, while drilling 42 percent of his 3-point shots.
He will be tough for L.A. to stop, and outscoring Miami will be difficult without Bryant's offense in the lineup. The Lakers will need to roll with a team-based approach, and are hoping the return of point guard Jordan Farmar can add more playmaking to the mix.
"We are fighting with a bunch of good guys that played well before and they will play again. ... We are not going to give up," D'Antoni said.
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