📣Which team will get into the game faster in the upcoming matchup? Both Miami and the Lakers are not in the best spirits. On December 3, the Heat could not put up a decent fight against Boston (89-108), while Los Angeles was utterly destroyed by Minnesota (80-109). Undoubtedly, after such defeats, both teams will want to win the upcoming meeting. In this situation, we will try to analyze all the details to provide you with an accurate prediction.

Head-to-Head

In head-to-head matchups, the team from the Eastern Conference has a slight advantage in results. Over a stretch of 47 games, Miami was stronger than its opponent in 27 cases, while the Lakers won only 20 times. Moreover, the Heat has not lost to Los Angeles for 4 meetings (since January 5, 2023 – almost 2 years).

Miami Heat

Miami suffered 2 very unpleasant defeats in the last 2 days. On December 2, the Heat lost to Toronto by a margin of 3 points (116-119), and on December 3, the team simply did not have enough strength for an equal fight with the reigning NBA champion (89-108). The Heat clearly failed the game against Boston, primarily showing weak performance in offense. Earlier this season, Miami had not scored less than 90 points. Moreover, the Heat could have lost by an even larger score (trailing by 27 points in the middle of the fourth quarter) but managed to slightly improve the situation by the end of the game.

Los Angeles Lakers

For the Lakers, this unfortunate period started back in mid-November. Los Angeles achieved the desired result in only 2 of the last 7 games, defeating Utah (105-104) and San Antonio (119-101), which are in the second half of the Western Conference standings. In the game against Minnesota, everything seemed to fall apart for the team. In 48 minutes of pure playing time, the Lakers scored only 80 points in offense, which is a standard total for all European championships. Three-point shots simply refused to go in – 6 hits out of 31 (19.4% shooting percentage).

Editorial Prediction

According to sportsbooks, Los Angeles is the underdog in the upcoming matchup. And we completely agree with them on this matter. Recently, the Lakers have been experiencing very serious problems not only with achieving desired results but also with executing their shots. In a stretch of the last 6 games, the team managed to surpass 106 points scored only once, and that happened in a matchup with not the strongest San Antonio (119-101). Considering that recent head-to-head meetings have also favored the Heat (9 out of 12), our key bet option will be Miami’s victory.