Takeaways and reaction from Heat’s win over short-handed Lakers, and the latest on Oladipo
This NBA Finals rematch was missing some of its most important characters, but it still produced some drama that the Miami Heat would have preferred to avoid.
In the end, the Heat (27-25) survived to defeat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 110-104 on Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena in a rematch of last season’s Finals that the Lakers won in six games. Los Angeles was without four rotation players Thursday, including its injured superstar duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Despite the Lakers (32-20) missing key components, they led at halftime 56-54 and trailed only by three with 5:07 to play. But Los Angeles didn’t get any closer than that, as Miami closed the game on a 15-12 run.
“Not at all disturbing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Lakers keeping it close despite missing nearly half of their usual rotation. “Look, you don’t know what’s going to present itself in an NBA basketball game. It’s competition and it can go a lot of different ways. We need these experiences together and I thought we did some things very well. I thought the Lakers did some good things, too.”
Los Angeles could not overcome its sloppy play, committing 22 turnovers that Miami turned into 33 points.
Victor Oladipo was sharp in his fourth game with the Heat after the trade, finishing with 18 points, four rebounds, two assists, one block and three steals. But he exited the game with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter as he grabbed at his right knee and did not return.
Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat with 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds and five assists. And Bam Adebayo contributed 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored a team-high 28 points with the help of 6-of-11 shooting on threes.
With the win, the Heat clinched a sweep of its season series against the Lakers for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Next up for the Heat is a four-game trip that begins on the West Coast on Sunday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Lakers:
This was Oladipo’s best game in a Heat uniform, but he left in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury.
After totaling an inefficient 30 points on 35 shots in his first three games with the Heat, Oldaipo finished Thursday’s win with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line, four rebounds, two assists, one block and three steals in 25 minutes.
Oladipo’s best minutes came in the third quarter, when he recorded eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting on threes to go with three steals in the period. Oladipo’s third quarter included a wow moment, when he caught a pass on the run at the three-point line and needed just one dribble before he took off for an impressive dunk over Lakers 6-10 center Andre Drummond.
“He gives us another element of attacking off the dribble, cutting,” Spoelstra said. “He’s able to put so much pressure in the paint. Then he was in a good flow from the three-point line, as well.”
Oladipo was not able to finish the game.
After completing a dunk with 5:51 to play in the final quarter, Oladipo immediately grabbed his right knee and called to be subbed out of the game. He limped straight to the locker room, but did not need any help doing so.
Spoelstra said following the game that there was no immediate update on Oldaipo’s right knee injury and he’ll be evaluated on Friday. Adebayo sounded encouraged after Oladipo met his teammates in the locker room to congratulate them following the win.
“You never want to see one of your brothers go down,” Adebayo said. “So I’m glad he’s OK, at the end of the day. We walked in and he was congratulating us on the win. So I feel like he’s OK. He just had a little scare.”
An X-ray on Oladipo’s right knee returned negative Thursday night and an MRI is scheduled for Friday, according to a league source.
Oladipo’s injury history made Thursday’s scene especially concerning, as he suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee in January 2019. That injury kept Oladipo out for a year.
Context is important. So it’s important to point out that the Lakers were very short-handed.
Aside from playing without its All-Star duo of Davis and James, the Lakers were also without two other rotation players in guard Talen Horton-Tucker (one-game suspension issued NBA) and forward Kyle Kuzma (calf strain).
Without Davis, James, Horton-Tucker and Kuzma, the Lakers were missing its top two scorers and four of their top-seven scorers for the season.
Los Angeles used a starting lineup of Dennis Schroder, Caldwell-Pope, Wesley Matthews, Markieff Morris and Drummond.
Kendrick Nunn remained out of the Heat’s rotation, but Precious Achiuwa made an appearance.
Nunn has not played since a March 26 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, when he sprained his right ankle. The second-year guard missed the next two games because of the ankle injury, but Thursday marked the fourth straight game he has been available for and did not play in.
With the Heat’s roster nearly at full health and the recent acquisition of Oladipo, Nunn has been pushed out of the rotation.
“We talked and put together a plan for him to stay ready,” Spoelstra said of Nunn before Thursday’s game. “He does keep himself ready. He does have the mental toughness to be ready for the next opportunity. It always happens. Unpredictable things happen. He’s a great worker and he hasn’t stopped doing that because of this. That’s why he’ll be ready.”
Nunn, 25, started in 24 consecutive games before spraining his ankle in late March and falling out of the Heat’s mix.
With Miami using the starting lineup of Oladipo, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Trevor Ariza and Adebayo for the fourth straight game, the bench rotation included Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro, Nemanja Bjelica and Andre Iguodala. Those are the nine players Spoelstra seems to be going with in most games for now.
But there was one wrinkle on Thursday, with Achiuwa added to the mix to provide a more physical look. Achiuwa played as Miami’s back-up center in the second half and Bjelica did not play in the final two quarters after logging 10 first-half minutes.
Achiuwa finished with seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from the foul line, five rebounds, one block and one steal. He was called for four fouls in nine minutes of action.
“I just thought he gave us a real presence at the rim, rolling to the rim. The energy that he had I think gave us a spark on both ends,” Spoelstra said of Achiuwa.
The Heat made the signing of center Dewayne Dedmon official on Thursday, but he was not available to play against the Lakers.
Miami needed to add a 14th player on a standard contract to its roster by Thursday because of NBA rules, and the signing of Dedmon fulfilled that obligation.
Dedmon, 31, cleared protocols and was available to play against the Lakers if needed, but the Heat opted to hold him out since he just signed with the team.
Dedmon’s contract with the Heat is for the remainder of the season. Dedmon will wear No. 21 — Hassan Whiteside’s old number with the Heat.
With Dedmon signing Thursday, his prorated veteran minimum contract comes with a cap hit of about $433,000, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That leaves Miami about $314,000 below the luxury-tax line, which would allow for the Heat to add a 15th standard contract to its roster starting on April 19 and still remain under the tax threshold.
Dedmon (7-0, 245) helps add to Miami’s frontcourt depth after the Heat dealt away centers Kelly Olynyk, Chris Silva and injured Meyers Leonard in different trades recently.
“Really excited that a player of Dewayne’s caliber is available at this time of year,” Spoelstra said. “He started 116 games the last three years and that’s not the role that we have for him here. But his defensive ability and ability to defend the rim, play pick-and-roll defense in different coverages, rebound the basketball, provide size in the paint defensively I think really fit for us.”
Besides Dedmon, the only other Heat player unavailable for Thursday’s contest was forward KZ Okpala (health and safety protocols).
This was an important win because the Heat’s schedule is about to get tougher.
Six of Miami’s next eight games come on the road, including a four-game trip against Western Conference opponents that begins Sunday against Portland.
The Heat’s next three games come against teams with winning records — at Trail Blazers on Sunday, at Phoenix Suns on Tuesday and at Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Miami hasn’t had much success against winning teams. The Heat is 7-14 this season against opponents that currently have a record above .500.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 10:28 PM.
