The Lakers bounced back from the defeat to kick off the California Classic with a victory over the Heat in sudden death double overtime on Sunday, 93-91.
After a late comeback in the fourth quarter to tie the game, the Lakers needed a couple of extra sessions to earn the win, that coming on a putback layup from Anton Watson.
Many of the same issues that existed in Friday’s game persisted on Sunday, which should not be surprising. While Cameron Carr opened the game with a floater off a nice set play, the Lakers were largely relegated to long-range shots the rest of the quarter.
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Watson, Peter Suder and Carr all connected on 3-pointers, but the Heat found offense much easier to come by and opened up an early 10-point lead. Eventually, some defensive stops and a couple of baskets in the paint pulled LA with a possession at 20-17, but Miami closed the quarter with the final six points.
That run only extended to open the second as Miami moved ahead again by double digits as part of an 11-2 run in total. A Thiero freebie accounted for two points to stop the run.
LA’s bizarre zone defense was somehow worse than their man-to-man as the Heat got an open three and an open lob on consecutive possessions.
Carr did his best to keep the purple and gold attached, getting a friendly roll on a three before hitting a pull-up jumper to bring him to 12 first-half points.
The Lakers got off to another slow offensive start in the second half, including Adou Thiero getting blocked at the rim on a fastbreak dunk attempt. Watson got revenge with a huge poster dunk for an and-one for the first Lakers points of the half.
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Carr continued his strong showing, converting his free throw after being fouled on a three before getting to the rim for a dunk. Thiero then had a steady stream of drives to the rim to draw fouls and get in a rhythm as well.
However, the Lakers still trailed by 10 going into the fourth.
After some back-and-forth action in the fourth, the Lakers finally pieced together a run. Zhaire Smith started it with an and-one dunk before a Thiero layup. Carr also converted a 1-for-2 free throw to pull within three.
From there, the teams traded big shots, including a long-distance Carr 3-pointer to keep the Lakers attached.
Down four with under a minute left, Chris Mañon forced a pair of turnovers leading to two fastbreak layups to tie the game. The Lakers made it three straight forced turnovers, but could not come away with a basket, leading to overtime.
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In the two-minute extra session, Mañon answered a Heat basket with a pair of free throws before Thiero answered a Heat floater to keep the game tied. Miami had a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left, but missed both.
Thiero created an open layup for Watson off a drive on the ensuing possession, but he could not get the gimme to fall. The Heat tried a lob from the in-bound but turned it over, setting up a sudden death double overtime period.
The Lakers won the tip, setting up a Carr pull-up jumper. While the shot bounced short, Watson got the putback to fall for the walk-off win.
Key Player Stats
Carr continued his great Summer League showing, pouring in 26 points on 7-15 shooting, including 4-9 shooting from range. Thiero had 13 points with three rebounds, two assists and three steals, going 4-7 at the free throw line.
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Mañon and Watson had 12 points each while Smith had 10 points off the bench. Suder finished the game with seven points and five rebounds while AK Okereke had seven points as well.
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