After an 0-4 start, the Miami Heat have responded with a pair of back-to-back wins. But now, they face another real test against the MVP caliber Luka Doncic and the 5-2 LA Lakers to kick off a five-game West Coast trip.
Doncic has been on a tear to start off this new 2026-27 season, averaging an insane 37.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.8 steals on nearly 49% shooting from the field. Perhaps besides Anthony Edwards back on opening night, he will be the toughest individual defensive assignment of the year thus far.
For Miami, they are coming off a dominant NBA Cup win where they dropped a season-best 145 points. Antetokounmpo led the way with an MVP-like stat-line himself with a 31 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists triple-double on 72% shooting. Bam Adebayo and Klay Thompson supported the new Heat star offensively with 27 points and 25 points, respectively.
Look for Thompson to build off his hottest shooting night as a member of the Heat, as he finally broke out from a quiet start as the team’s starting shooting guard.
Tim Hardaway Jr., another newly acquired Heat sharpshooter that’s been in an early slump, is the only rotation player on the team’s injury report— listed as questionable for personal reasons. Everybody else is expected to be good to go for this marquee matchup.
Tonight’s late-night battle in Los Angeles will have a 10:00 PM EST tip-off time.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Tim Hardaway Jr. (personal) — QUESTIONABLE
- Tre Donaldson (g-league) — OUT
- Vlad Goldin (g-league) — OUT
LA Lakers:
- NOT YET SUBMITTED.
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Klay Thompson, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, F
- Bam Adebayo, C
LA Lakers:
- Luka Doncic, G
- Austin Reaves, G
- Matisse Thybulle, F
- Jake LaRavia, F
- Walker Kessler, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 10:00 PM EST
- TV: WPLG Local 10 (Eric Reid & John Crotty)
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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The team usually finds something on their first west cost road trip under Spo. Let’s see if that holds true this season.
So far, the Lakers doing fine with their atypical lineup. They will pose a significant challenge for us to keep winning.
Luka will jack up shots regardless, so focus on limiting Reaves.
Three things to do:
-let Luka play
-limit Reaves.
-cut assist to Kessler
And at the end, dont give up if there 20 points difference. Lineups without Luka are much worse then with him.