Mario Chalmers scored 9 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, Hassan Whiteside added 15 points with 9 rebounds and 5 blocks to lead the Miami Heat in their sweep of the Staples Center with a 78-75 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hassan Whiteside is having a terrific 2015 coming off the bench as the newest member of the Heat’s rotation. Whiteside has averaged 14.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.6 blocks coming off the bench for Miami only playing in 23.2 minutes per game since the beginning of 2015.
Chris Bosh scored 8 points on 4-of-17 shooting for the Heat, who followed up their surprise victory over the Clippers two days ago by winning an ugly game against the Lakers despite losing Dwyane Wade to a strained left hamstring late in the first half. Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds on the night for the Heat.
Kobe Bryant scored 12 points on 3-of-19 shooting in his return to the Lakers’ lineup after missing three of the last four games to rest. 2 other Lakers matched Kobe’s scoring out put with Ed Davis and Jordan Hill scoring 12 each, before Hill left late in the fourth due to an apparent injury of his own. Ed Davis also had 8 rebounds on the night.
Bryant’s desperation 3-pointer in the corner over Luol Deng with 31 seconds to play in the game cut Miami’s lead to 3 points. Then Kobe missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 2 seconds left after Luol Deng was denied at the rim by Ed Davis the play after Kobe’s miraculous 3.
Lakers shot 29-92 on the night for 31.5% while the Heat shot 33-78 on 42% shooting.
Miami Heat are 17-21. Los Angeles Lakers are 12-27.
