Miami Heat take down L.A. Lakers in a 112-98 victory

Jimmy Butler leads with 27 points and 6 steals as the Heat have picked up back to back wins.

The Miami Heat defeat LeBron James and the visiting LA Lakers 112-98, improving to 18-17 on the season. Miami is above the .500 mark for the second time this year and head into the 5 game road trip winners of back to back outings. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were originally listed as questionable this morning but ended up being good to go. Kyle Lowry was a late scratch due to personal reasons but Gabe Vincent got the starting nod and was solid.

The Lakers got destroyed in the turnover category, suffering 24 turnovers compared to the Heat’s 5. Those 5 marked a season best for Miami, as they took care of the basketball and played strong defense on the other end as well. With no Lowry, coach Erik Spoelstra went with a starting group of Vincent, Tyler Herro, Butler, Caleb Martin and Bam.

The three guys of the core four in Butler, Adebayo and Herro played terrific on both ends of the floor. Jimmy was getting to all his spots right in his wheel house majority of the night, including some clutch plays down the stretch.

There were several buckets off of spin moves to the basket and some really crafty ones too. That ankle that kept him out the last game and a half didn’t seem to bother him at all tonight.

The 6 steals from Butler is something that can’t not be talked about. His impact is a complete game changer, and his energy and effort getting into passing lines and disrupting opposing team’s offense is ELITE.

Adebayo was a whole other beast out there… finishing with an effortless 23 point, 14 rebound double double to go along with 2 blocks and an efficient 10/16 shooting. He was throwing down crushing slams all night long.

Tyler Herro, although struggled a little bit again offensively, still found ways to make a big impact. He recorded 9 assists with his 18 points, in which 3 of those points came from a dagger 3 point off a Jimmy assist late in the 4th. The 9 assists was especially big with the team’s starting PG out.

The main guys got some help from the role players, as Caleb, Vincent and Duncan Robinson all had some timely buckets.

With Robinson’s two 3’s tonight, he comes closer to breaking the franchise all time leading 3 point scorer.

Miami led for pretty much most the night, but took their foot off the gas a little in the 4th quarter. The Lakers were able to bring a 20+ point lead down to single digits, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. The Heat responded well to that little Laker’s run, and defeated King James back in his old stomping grounds.

Jimmy Buckets and the Heat will look to get in a groove and win 3 in a row with a Friday night match up in Denver.