Lakers at Heat
The Los Angeles Lakers will have little time to recover from a woeful defensive effort as they continue their three-game road trip Sunday against the Miami Heat. After a 6-1 stretch that sent them into the trip on a high note, the Lakers allowed Orlando to shoot 53.8 percent in a 130-117 loss on Saturday.
LeBron James scored 22 points before sitting out the fourth quarter as Los Angeles fell to 3-4 on the road. "I thought we came out ready to play tonight," coach Luke Walton told reporters. "I really liked our first quarter, our intensity, our focus. And then for some reason, I don't know why yet, our defense - it felt like - just failed us. We've been getting a lot better defensively and we played a good first quarter defensively." The Heat are coming off an inconsistent 1-1 road trip during which they scored 120 points in the victory and 91 in the loss. They've dropped three in a row at home while giving up an average of 116.7 points.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles), FS Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (8-7): Lonzo Ball has an opportunity to take on more responsibility at the point guard position with Rajon Rondo (hand) out for about a month, but his shot failed him in Saturday's loss. The second-year pro missed all five of his attempts in 28 scoreless minutes, his second career game without a point. Josh Hart scored 13 points in 20 minutes off the bench and hit 3-of-4 3-pointers to up his mark from beyond the arc to 44.3 percent.
ABOUT THE HEAT (6-9): Miami is seeking some consistency after the up-and-down trip, and Friday's 99-91 loss at Indiana caused the team to lament its issues on the offensive end, just two days after there were question marks defensively. "I think it's different every game," forward Justise Winslow told reporters. "Sometimes it's turnovers. Sometimes it's poor spacing. Sometimes it's shot selection. And then I think we let the offense slip and affect us defensively." Josh Richardson was the only member of the Heat to shoot better than 50 percent against the Pacers, finishing with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting to bump his team-leading scoring average to 20.6.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Heat SG Dwyane Wade (personal) will miss his seventh straight game.
2. Lakers SF Brandon Ingram has notched 11 assists with zero turnovers over his last two games.
3. Miami has won nine of the last 10 against Los Angeles at home.