Lakers rally but can’t close in loss to Heat

LOS ANGELES — In games this close this season, almost no team has been better than the Lakers.

Down two starters and two points, the Lakers nearly pulled off the unlikely again.

LeBron James manufactured a steal out of thin air with 5.4 seconds left, tapping it to Alex Caruso who passed the ball back to James at the top of the arc. The 36-year-old is still the Lakers’ go-to-shooter in these moments – except he was met by a double-team. Without Anthony Davis and Dennis Schröder, the Miami Heat were happy enough to send Jimmy Butler and Kelly Olynyk his way.

So James does what he always does in that bind: pass to the open shooter. Caruso took a long two-pointer, which clanged short as the Lakers (22-9) took their latest loss, 96-94.

Caruso second-guessed himself afterward, saying he hadn’t anticipated that James would get double-teamed, and that he got caught off-guard when James passed it back. But the fact is the Lakers are all trying to figure out themselves – what they look like without point guard Dennis Schröder and All-Star big man Anthony Davis for the next few games at least.

“We’re figuring out how to play without one of our creators in Dennis and one of our stars in A.D.,” he said. “That’s gonna take a little bit of time.”

Growing pains were apparent Saturday night at Staples Center, but there was growth.

At the outset the defending champions looked much diminished from the team they bested in the NBA Finals last October (and the Heat haven’t been looking so sharp, either). But after allowing 36 points in the opening frame, the defense tightened up to allow just 15 in the fourth quarter.

And as Coach Frank Vogel said, “that should be enough to win.” Only it wasn’t, because the Lakers’ shooting has run dry, too. While the Lakers made 13 3-pointers in the game, they made only one of 13 attempts in the fourth quarter. That included three misses from behind the arc, including an attempt by James, in the final minute as they attempted to pull back for victory after trailing by as much as 15 points.

The sole superstar left standing for the Lakers, James struggled on his efficiency with 21 shots to score 19 points, finishing also with nine assists and nine rebounds. Kyle Kuzma started hot, scoring 11 of the Lakers’ first 17 points, and finished with a team-high 23.

But the individual efforts weren’t fitting together, especially in the moments when James left the court. The Lakers outscored the Heat by 11 points in his 37-plus minutes but lost it in the remainder.

The loss dropped them to third place in the Western Conference, which the Lakers said they aren’t focusing on at the moment but which could cost them come May when the playoff matchups crystalize. With losses to Denver and Brooklyn earlier in the week, the Lakers are now 5-3 on the season without Davis, and it’s trending downward.

The Heat’s initial wave set the Lakers’ back on their heels. In the first 5½ minutes, they made seven dunks or layups inside the restricted zone. With Bam Adebayo (16 points, 10 rebounds) attacking an Anthony Davis-less defense, the stage was set for things to get out of hand early.

It was an attack the Lakers know well from last year’s Finals, but which Caruso said took them a while to get adjusted. Once they did, the results were reasonable: Jimmy Butler had 24 points. The biggest outlier was Kendrick Nunn, who racked up 27. But the Heat shot just 42 percent overall.

The biggest problem was the Lakers shot just 39 percent.

“Obviously they’re a five-in-the-paint, paint-swarm team: You have to play extra-pass basketball,” Vogel said. “I thought we generated a lot of good looks in the fourth quarter, just weren’t able to knock ’em down. But there’s certainly ways we can execute better as well. We’ll look at the tape and find ways where we can be better.”

And soon.

“We got some great looks and they didn’t fall…I think defensively we were very good.” @KingJames post-game with @LakersReporter on tonight’s close 96-94 loss to the Heat. pic.twitter.com/ii4rrKjeaT

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 21, 2021

.@ACFresh21 shares his perspective on the final play of tonight’s game with @LakersReporter. pic.twitter.com/FF23xyiPZo

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 21, 2021

Frank Vogel discusses improving on tonight’s performance heading into the All-Star break with @LakersReporter. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/YOpkRVExuc

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 21, 2021

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