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LeBron James and the LA Lakers lost their 18th game of the season against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, dropping below the .500 mark. The Lakers have now lost nine of their last 12 games. The one against the Heat turned out more embarrassing as Miami was without their best player, Jimmy Butler and another starter, Caleb Martin.
The NBA Cup winners were mocked heavily online, but LeBron faced more flak for his underwhelming performance.
LeBron produced his worst games of the season, tallying 12 points, six rebounds and nine assists on 6-of-18 shooting and 0-for-6 from 3 in the 110-96 blowout loss.
LeBron James never looked settled from the get-go. He was inefficient in running the point and breaking down the Heat's defense. It was surprising considering the 39-year-old was familiar with the Heat's schemes, having played four seasons for head coach Erik Spoelstra, making the Finals four times and winning two championships.
The 39-year-old got trolled with "washed" and "father time" memes on X, formerly Twitter, after the loss:
"LEBRON JAMES IS FINALLY WASHED LET'S F**KING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LEF**KERY IS FINALLY OVERRR," one fan wrote.
More reactions followed:
Turnovers kill LeBron James and Lakers' momentum against Miami Heat
The LA Lakers' common theme throughout the season so far has been their turnover rate and disastrous 3-point shooting. On Wednesday, the Lakers committed 21 turnovers, giving up 22 points on them alone. The eventual margin of loss was 24 points.
The Lakers shot 4-of-30 from 3 compared to the Heat's 16-of-42. LA also looked lackluster on defense for most of the night. Apart from Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, nobody got going for the Purple and Gold. "AD" produced another MVP-caliber night, bagging 29 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and five blocks on 58.8% shooting.
Reaves had 24 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 58.3% shooting. He returned to the starting lineup in this game. That move gave the Lakers an instant push offensively, but the off nights for LeBron James, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish saw the Lakers failing to capitalize on that.
The Lakers committed turnovers at regular intervals that kept them at bay, especially in the first half. The Heat, by then, had a rough night offensively, too, so the Lakers had every chance to win this contest. However, once Miami caught fire in the fourth quarter, there was no looking back.
The Heat outscored the Lakers 38-29 in the final frame to seal the tie with a 24-point margin. Miami improves to 20-14 on the season, while LA drops to 17-18, 11th in the Western Conference.
With the latest loss, there's a sense that the Lakers could be among the most active teams at the trade deadline in pursuit of another star. They have been linked to Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray.
