By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
On December 5, 2024, the Miami Heat scored its most dominant victory in the ongoing NBA regular season and dealt the Los Angeles Lakers their worst loss of the year, 134-93.
With the massive win, the Heat just bounced back from a back-to-back losing streak and re-entered the NBA winning column on a high note. On the other hand, the Lakers continued to struggle and have now lost six out of their 10 total games in two weeks.
From the get-go, the Heat asserted its dominance from the three-point line, swishing four out of their first seven attempts that helped them establish an early double-digit lead.
However, LeBron James kept the Lakers at bay as he sliced and diced his way against the tough interior defense of the Heat to score 10 early points in the ball game.
Despite James’ personal scoring avalanche, the Heat still dominated the second quarter, en route to a lopsided first-half outing when they outscored the Lakers, 69-52.
The Heat then formally blew the game wide-open in the third when superstar shooting guard Tyler Herro went unconscious and fired seven three-pointers in the period alone.
With Herro heating up and the Miami bench mob fulfilling their duties of protecting their double-digit lead, everything just clicked for the Heat and never gave the Lakers any breathing room heading into the fourth and final quarter.
The Heat still won the fourth-quarter battle, edging Los Angeles with an eight-point margin, 29-21, and stamped their masterclass with a 41-point beating.
From a slow first half, Herro’s third-quarter explosion ended his night with a game-high 31-point outing built from a 9/16 shooting from downtown.
Herro had the chance to reach the 40-50-point plateau but was subbed out with plenty of time remaining in the final frame due to the blowout situation.
Jimmy Butler backstopped Herro with an all-around performance of 17 markers, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block, while Bam Adebayo nearly tallied a triple-double with 14 points, 10 boards, seven dimes, and a rejection.
On the other hand, the Lakers received 29 dominant points from James, but his better half, Anthony Davis, only logged eight markers in 31 minutes of playing time.
This is the second straight game where Davis failed to score 15 points at least following a 12-point performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves three days ago.