Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET the Los Angeles Lakers (16-26) will head to Miami to take on the Heat (30-12) for the first time since a surprisingly competitive Christmas Day game that Los Angeles lost by six. Watch the game on TNT or live stream it by clicking this link. Lakers fans can find the radio broadcast on 710 ESPN, while Heat fans can find the game on 560 WQAM.
Miami snapped a stretch of bad defense against the Boston Celtics Tuesday night by holding them to 86 points. "Even if it wasn't perfect, the possessions meant something to us, mistakes meant something to us," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It starts with that type of pride in our defense."
On top of lapsing defense, Miami's been playing with Dwyane Wade for the last three games; he's also been in and out of the lineup all year, placing more of the burden to win on LeBron James' shoulders. "It's difficult doing what we do," Chris Bosh said. "But that's why we're the champs, to do the difficult thing again and get the job done. Tonight was a good start. We just have to build off of it."
James was happy to see the Heat's signature defense return--"It's the only way we're going to be able to win games, if we defend."
The Lakers have struggled to find any consistency this year. After two straight wins they lost a devastating game in overtime to Chicago on Monday. "It's heartbreaking," leading scorer Nick Young said. "We felt like we were competing and was in it. That's all we can ask for."
On Christmas Day Young did his best to carry Los Angeles, leading them with 20 points and knocking down 4-of-7 shots from behind the 3-point arc. Pau Gasol has 13 points and 13 boards in that game, and they'll need him to step up tonight, as Miami is vulnerable to offensively gifted big men.
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