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A strong second half propelled the Los Angeles Lakers to a 117-108 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Lakers improved to 21-17 and moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks.
Los Angeles trailed by 12 points at the half before outscoring Miami 29-19 in the third quarter. L.A. then dropped 34 points in the fourth to get over the top.
LeBron James shot 4-of-6 from the field for nine points and added one rebound, two assists and one steal in the final frame. During one stretch, James scored seven straight points to take the wind out of the Heat’s sails as they were trying to mount a comeback.
The Heat were still without star Jimmy Butler, who wrapped up his seven-game suspension, and he was sorely missed as Miami simply had no counter for LeBron. This wasn’t the most prolific fourth quarter of his legendary career, but he stepped up when the Lakers needed him.
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LeBron James outscored the entire Heat team over the last 4 minutes of the game 👑 pic.twitter.com/LBszkRYz5v
James finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. All five Lakers starters scored in double figures with Anthony Davis (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Austin Reaves (14 points, 14 assists) each posting a double-double.
Tyler Herro dropped a game-high 34 points for the Heat but didn’t get a ton of help. Davis did well to limit the impact of Bam Adebayo, who had 10 points and four boards.
Snapping a three-game losing skid, the Lakers have a great opportunity to keep building on their momentum from last night.
On Friday, they welcome in the Brooklyn Nets, who are fresh off a 126-67 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers. Brooklyn has dropped six of its last seven games and totally bottomed out following a 9-10 start to the season.