The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat face off for the second time this season, tonight, at the Staples Center.
The Los Angeles Lakers are playing some great basketball currently. They have pushed their record to 16-10, winning five of their last six games. Things are getting figured out on both ends of the court, as their offense and defense have both been impressive during the recent stretch.
Tonight, Los Angeles returns home for one game before embarking on a four-game road trip. They will be hosting the Miami Heat tonight, wrapping up the season series between the two teams.
Miami comes into tonight’s game playing some solid basketball of their own. The Heat have won four of their last five games, climbing back toward the .500 mark after falling a season-high six games under .500 on Nov. 27.
The victories haven’t been against bottom-feeders, either. Three of the wins came against the New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers better come ready to play, or else the Heat could surprise them.
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Los Angeles has already defeated Miami once this season. In the first meeting, LeBron James was absolutely dominant. The Lakers won 113-97 in Miami, following up a disappointing loss against the Orlando Magic the previous night with a strong performance against the Heat.
James scored a season-high 51 points in that matchup, adding eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Only three other Lakers, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, scored in double-figures.
Los Angeles will need someone else to step up tonight, as Ingram will be sidelined with an ankle injury. The earliest we will see Ingram back on the court is Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets, as he was ruled out for at least a week before being re-evaluated.
Games against out of conference teams usually don’t garner much attention, especially when one of the teams is under .500. However, tonight’s game is a special one, as it is probably the last time that Dwyane Wade and James will meet on an NBA court.
Wade announced that this will be his final season playing in the NBA. The future Hall of Famer will be wrapping up an illustrious career, and you know he will come out motivated to knock off his good friend James in what looks to be their final matchup against each other.
Game Info
Date: December 10th, 2018
Start time: 10:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, California
Stadium: Staples Center
TV Info: FSSUN, SPECSN
Radio: 790 The Ticket / S: WAQI 710 AM, 710 AM ESPN / 1330 AM ESPN DEPORTES
Live Stream: Fubo TV
Betting Info
The Heat will be motivated for tonight’s game after the Lakers blew them out in the first meeting. Surprisingly, the Heat are actually a better team on the road this season than at home. Miami has a record of 6-5 on the road. going 7-4 ATS. The Lakers have a strong home record, going 10-4, but they are not as good against the number, going 6-7 ATS.
Spread: Lakers between -6 and -7
Moneyline: Lakers between -250 and -325, Heat between +210 and +255
Total: Between 221-222 points
Projected Starting Lineups
Heat
PG: Goran Dragic
SG: Josh Richardson (probable)
SF: Rodney McGruder
PF: James Johnson
C: Bam Adebayo
Lakers
PG: Lonzo Ball
SG: Josh Hart
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kyle Kuzma
C: JaVale McGee