The fireworks began for Los Angeles Lakers megastar Luka Doncic on opening night against the Golden State Warriors, particularly when he started jawing with rookie Yaxel Lendeborg.
He hasn’t stopped, either.
Entering Monday on a two-game winning streak, the Miami Heat were hoping to extinguish Doncic, but were unable to, as he tallied yet another 40-point double-double in the Lakers’ 138-117 win over the Heat inside Crypto.com Arena.
From the opening team, Miami didn’t have a single answer. Confusingly enough, there were only a handful of possessions — if that — with Bam Adebayo squared up against Doncic. Still, while Halloween was a few nights ago, the 27-year-old superstar carved the Heat’s defense up like a pumpkin.
Doncic tallied 42 points with seven rebounds and 13 assists, shooting 14-of-24 from the floor and 6-of-15 from 3-point range. Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t quite match him, despite posting a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double of his own, adding seven assists, one steal and two blocks.
Miami’s defense, however, was a few steps too low all night. When the Heat blitzed Doncic, they were too slow to rotate, as the Lakers buried 19 threes; when they didn’t, he punished practically every single individual matchup. Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson caught the brunt of it.
Perhaps the biggest silver lining, if there was any, was that Klay Thompson picked up right where he left off, and Mitchell’s hot start to the season continued. Still, the Heat’s inability to get stops and ineffectiveness against their two-best players — Austin Reaves had 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting (4-5 3PT) — was the biggest issue.
Miami’s defense entering Monday has been quite poor. Describing it that way would have been a compliment on Monday. For the Heat to get completely on track, they must correct those struggles.
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Back to earth we come crashing in another disappointment that isn’t so easily shrugged off. There is one emerging reality that we must face. We can’t be satisfied with the team we have built around Giannis. We went all in and mortgaged our future to get him. And he is delivering on his end of the deal and deserves better. This is where team building gets difficult and some hard choices will need to be made. But, we have to finish the job of providing our superstar an adequate supporting cast. We already have no tomorrow beyond the next two years, so let’s make the present worthwhile.
It’s just not fair. Way too many whitesides on that team. Luka 42 points, Reaves 27 points, Kessler 15 points & 15 rebounds, Mamukelashvili 13 points.
Miami’s offense is hot and cold. However, the Heat cannot possibly beat the Lakers or other top tier teams without an elite defense. Miami, which is giving up 123.9 ppg, got outrebounded (41-34) and had 11 fewer assists than L.A. (39-28).
The very first thing Spo has to fix is the defense. It was supposed to be Miami’s strength. The second thing is to find a reliable two-way scorer to pair with Giannis. I know. I know. Its the first year of a fast track (two year) rebuild.
I just hope Giannis doesn’t become disappointed and decides not to sign an extension with Miami and goes the free agent route instead. All the Heat have is an unenforceable gentlemen’s agreement. Talk about being in a vulnerable position. Oh well, it is what it is.
You brought up a bunch of my concerns. It is a two year plan and we do need that scorer.. And, it sure didn’t seem like defense would be an issue but it has been.
Great comment. Defense is the biggest isue we have and I totally agree with you that it needs to be fixed first. Without defense we can’t beat the above average teams. Fortunately, 3 of the 4 teams we face next (Clippers, Kings, Jazz) are one of the worst in the league, so we have a shot. We can just hope that Spo will figure it out before we face the Cavs, Pistons and Rockets.