The Miami Heat were starting to panic a bit. The team was coming off a disastrous road trip that saw the defending champs lose three-straight games. However, they were able to get back on track with a strong win against the Boston Celtics and hope to keep up the momentum as they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
The Heat were all defense against the Celtics. During the team's six-game road trip, they gave up an average of 13.8 points per game, finishing the stint 2-4. However, the allowed the Celtics to put up just 86 points in the win on Tuesday, holding the team to just 39.3 percent shooting overall. On average, the Heat are giving up 98.5 points per game which ranks much higher than the past two seasons where they surrendered an average of 92.5 and 95.0 points respectively.
LeBron James led the way on offense, putting up 29 points in the absence of Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh added another 16 points. Wade is expected to be out again against the Lakers as he continues to rest his troublesome knees in hopes of being healthier down the stretch of the season. James admitted the constant absence of Wade has made things difficult for the team.
The Lakers are in the middle of their seven-game Grammys road trip. The team is in a slump, going 3-13 in their past 16 games. The put together back-to-back wins before losing in overtime to the Chicago Bulls. They gave up the game-winning layup as the clock expired.
Pau Gasol continues to try and carry the Lakers as he averaged 22.0 points and 12.4 rebounds over the past five games. However, the absence of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash has made Gasol's play almost irrelevant as it is not enough to get the Lakers some wins.
The Heat and Lakers met up on Christmas Day. Miami pulled out the win 101-95 as James and Wade put up 23 points apiece, shooting 51.3 percent overall.
