The Lakers were embarrassed against the Heat and the Celtics continue to grow

Los Angeles Lakerswith only two wins in their last eight games, suffered this Wednesday another unfortunate loss against the Miami Heat by 134-93leading purple and gold legend Magic Johnson to share his frustration on social media.

“I feel embarrassed for the Lakers. They were down 33 points against the Miami Heat, 105-72, at the end of the third quarter,” the legendary point guard wrote in X.

I’m embarrassed for the Lakers. They were down 32 points to the Miami Heat 105-72 at the end of the third quarter.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 5, 2024

The Los Angeles coach, JJ Redick, said something similar after a game that they finally lost by 41 points: “I’m ashamed, we’re all ashamed”.

Just two days after sealing their lowest score since 2017 (80 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves), the Lakers (12-10) once again offered a terrible image in a game in which they only scored 5 of 22 in triples against the spectacular 24 of 47 for the Heat (10-10).

LeBron James (29 points and 8 assists), who became the seventh highest three-point shooter in NBA history, surpassing Kyle Korver, was left alone in the Lakers’ attack in which Anthony Davis had a day to forget ( 8 points with 3 of 14 field goals and 7 rebounds).

Removing LeBron with his 12 of 18 field goal attempts, the rest of the Angelenos crashed to an atrocious 25 of 70 attempts at the basket.

Instead, the Heat had a dream evening with 57.8% shooting from the field, 42 assists (franchise record) and with Tyler Herro in his element with 31 points (21 of them in a fabulous third quarter) and a huge 9 of 16 in triples.

Five other players joined the party with double-digit scoring. Jimmy Butler (17 points and 9 rebounds), Bam Adebayo (14 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists) and Terry Rozier (16 points) stood out. Mexican Jaime Jáquez Jr. contributed 9 points, 4 rebounds and an assist.

Faced with the miseries of the Lakers, their eternal rivals and current NBA champions, the Celtics (18-4), defeated the Pistons (9-15) despite not having Jayson Tatum.

Jaylen Brown (28 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists) and Kristaps Porzigins (26 points and 9 rebounds) led a sextet of those in green with 14 or more points. Dominican Al Horford scored precisely 14 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Cade Cunningham almost hit the triple-double (27 points, 9 rebounds and 14 assists) for the Pistons who have suffered three straight losses.

The Hawks (12-11) chained their fifth consecutive victory and stopped the Bucks (11-10) in their tracks, who had won seven games in a row and nine of their last ten games, signing a great recovery from their horrible start to the season.

In this duel between two qualifiers for the NBA Cup quarterfinals (Atlanta will visit the New York Knicks and Milwaukee will host the Orlando Magic), Jalen Johnson (23 points and 13 rebounds) and De’Andre Hunter (20 points) took the reins of the Hawks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (31 points and 11 rebounds) and Damian Lillard (25 points) were not enough in Milwaukee.

The Sixers had won two games in a row for the first time all season but, on a ‘back-to-back’ night and without Joel Embiid due to injury and Paul George due to rest, they fell this Wednesday against a Magic (16-8) with 35 points and 7 rebounds from Franz Wagner.

Jared McCain (24 points and 7 rebounds) was the top scorer for the penultimate Sixers in the East with a terrifying 5-15 record.

After three consecutive defeats, the Nets (10-13) of Spanish coach Jordi Fernández were happy by beating some moribund Pacers (9-14) who lost their last four games and who are very far from that captivating team that arrived on last year to the NBA Cup final and the Eastern final.

Full of casualties (Cam Thomas, Dorian Finney-Smith, Noah Clowney, Ziaire Williams, etc.), the Nets showed themselves one more night as a very serious and competitive team and allowed themselves to be guided by Cameron Johnson (26 points and 7 rebounds with 7 of 13 in triples), Nic Claxton (16 points and 8 rebounds) and Shake Milton (15 points as a reserve).

An 8 of 33 in triples was the best example of the thick and tedious attack of the Pacers in which Tyrese Haliburton was the top scorer with only 17 points and 8 assists and 5 of 13 in shots (1 of 7 from the perimeter).

The third straight victory for the Timberwolves (11-10) took the form of a beating: they closed the first quarter winning by 19 points, they dominated by 29 before halftime and their maximum difference was 41 still in the third period.

Julius Randle (20 points in 26 minutes) was the top scorer in Minnesota’s exhibition, which in its last two games dried up the two Los Angeles teams with its defense, leaving them with a paltry 80 points: on Monday the Lakers and this Wednesday to the Clippers (14-10).

James Harden had a horrible performance with 5 points (1 of 10 on field goals), 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 turnovers. The Clippers only scored 50 points between the first three quarters and made up the final result with 30 in the last period.