LOS ANGELES — When it came to the Lakers’ declining defense, “connected” was the buzzword ahead of their matchup against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
Because in their eyes, when they’re in sync and playing defense as a unit, they can compete with any team in the NBA, Coach JJ Redick said.
And in their 117-108 victory over the Heat, they showed exactly what that meant.
After a pedestrian first-half defensive performance, the Lakers turned up their defensive execution and attention to detail, turning a 12-point halftime deficit into a nine-point victory to end their three-game losing streak.
Anthony Davis diving for a loose ball that led to a LeBron James 3-pointer to cut what had been a 14-point deficit to one midway through the third quarter encapsulated the shift in defensive intensity the Lakers had in the second half.
The Lakers moved in front at 88-87 with 10:47 left in the fourth after going on a 15-4 run.
The Lakers held the Heat to just 42 second-half points after Miami scored 38 points in the first quarter.
Davis led the Lakers with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
James, who finished with 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds, scored nine of his points in the fourth, with his late shot-making giving the Lakers their first victory since they beat the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 3.
Rui Hachimura finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Austin Reaves had a 14 point, 14-assist double-double while Gabe Vincent added 14 points and four assists off of the bench.
Tyler Herro led the Heat with 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting (7 for 12 from 3-point range).
But Miami turned the ball over 20 times for 23 Laker points, limiting the effectiveness of the Heat’s strong perimeter shooting (16 for 36 from behind the arc).
The Lakers took 17 more shots than the Heat (90-73) with the help of their ball security, finishing with just seven turnovers.
More to come on this story.