Lakers Vs. Heat: Dwyane Wade Steps Up As Miami Finally Wins A Close Game

The Heat’s win pushed them to 44-21 on the year, which puts them 17 and a half games ahead of ninth-place Charlotte. The Heat have just 17 games remaining, which means they will be in the playoffs. Where they will be remains to be seen, but the most likely guess is anywhere between first and third. The Heat are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, 3.5 games behind first-place Boston and two games behind second-place Chicago, who owns the tiebreaker over the Heat after sweeping them in head-to-head matchups.

It’s a very low threshold for Heat fans that were expecting more, but to win the title, you have to make the playoffs first, so it’s something.

A Wade layup put Miami up 84-82 with 4:26 left, but Bryant gave the Lakers an 85-84 lead with a deep three-pointer from the left corner. Bosh then isolated on Gasol at the top of the key and drove right around him for a left-handed layup and an 86-85 Heat lead with three minutes remaining. Bryant missed a jumper, and Wade converted a reverse layup off an offensive rebound to push the lead to 88-85.

Bosh asked to get more touches in the post specifically, and so far, he’s spent most of his time there. Ten of his 16 points have come on layups or dunks, and only four have come on jump shots. Bosh has abandoned the 20-footer at the top of the key that he’s shot frequently this season in favor of more forays into the lane, and the Heat have rewarded him with more touches closer to the basket.

The Los Angeles Lakers are relying on a familiar formula early on in this huge game. The Miami Heat? They’re relying heavily on Mario Chalmers. Chalmers, not LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, leads Miami in scoring with nine points as the Heat lead 29-26 after one quarter of play.

Chalmers has his points on three three-point field goals, two of which came very early in the game. James added eight points, two of which came on a buzzer-beating layup that just barely got out of his hands before the horn sounded. Wade has five points, while Bosh has four points on 2-2 shooting.

But Miami survived. A huge win in emotional Cleveland started a 20-2 run that made everyone forget about the struggles we’d witnessed. Those who laughed at Miami came to fear their power. Those who honestly believed Miami would be a bad team tucked their tails between their legs and disappeared.

We’ll see. The Lakers visit the Heat at 5 PM Eastern on TNT.