As the Miami Heat take on the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in a big rematch of the 2020 NBA Finals, the squad led by Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo will try to build off their home win against the Washington Wizards last Friday. Before the victory, the Heat lost four-straight games as every contest was on the road.
While the intention is to build off the win, it won't be easy as they face the Lakers who went to the Western Conference Finals last season and feature the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Herro said to ClutchPoints after Monday morning's shoot-around that there's no doubt that they have a tough matchup ahead.
“More focused on our game plan, ourselves, and where we're at. Just trying to put a complete 48 minute game together and tonight is another opportunity to do that,” Herro said. “Obviously going up against LeBron and AD [Anthony Davis], and the rest of the guys they got, they're tough. But, just continue to work through things to get better every single day and tonight's a good chance to do that.”
Herro's outlook on the back-court of the Lakers
What is overshadowed by James and Davis is the Lakers' guards and while former Heat player Gabe Vincent won't be active due to a left knee effusion, they still have playmakers to look out for. Some of the names that standout are D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves who have been showing out in their stints with Los Angeles.
Herro will be in the brunt of those matchups with the Lakers' back-court as how he plays against them on both sides of the floor will be an interesting trend to follow. In his fifth-season, Herro acknowledged the guards on Los Angeles and said that one of the goals for the Heat is for the opponent to “feel” them.
“They're great players. Obviously they're playing with LeBron, so LeBron makes things a lot easier on everybody, just all the attention he brings along with AD, so they can hurt you if you let them get going,” Herro said. “And we're just gonna have to make them feel so they can't get comfortable.”
So far on the season, Herro has been electric as he leads the team in scoring with his 25.8 points per game to go along with averages of 5.7 rebounds and five assists.
Bam Adebayo talks about what he wants to see from the Heat vs. Lakers
In terms of the front-court , the Heat's Bam Adebayo will have a big matchup against Anthony. Davis, as both are considered the two best defensive big-men in the game. Currently in his seventh season, Adebayo is in the hopes of a contract extension by the end of the year which could provide more motivation to have a career-best season. So far, he's averaging 21.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.
Adebayo told ClutchPoints that while the team doesn't focus on the individual matchups, he's looking for a collective understanding of how the Lakers run their team.
“We're looking to go out there and have great energy, it's going to be an intense game,” Adebayo said. “We're looking to compete, we don't really look at the matchups between who and who, we look at schemes and how we can win this game.”
There's one thing for certain, the Heat are going to need their main three in Herro, Adebayo, and Jimmy Butler to come up huge if they want a chance for redemption against the Lakers. It all starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. (EST) at the Kasyea Center.
Follow Us
Subscribe