Lakers 87, Heat 98: Another Beating From LeBron

Good thing Dwyane Wade didn't play tonight, or the Lakers might've been blown out. Worse. Blown out worse is what I mean, because please don't infer from the 87 to 98 final score that this was at all close. The Miami Heat led by double digits early in the second quarter and by 21 after the third. Only some garbage-time scoring, the only time the Lakers were able to string together adequate offensive possessions, made the end result appear unremarkable. Make no mistake: the Lakers sucked tonight. I don't think they suck in some fixed, objective sense, but they sucked tonight, they suck against LeBron James and they suck on the road, where they're now 1-5. (Congrats, Utah Jazz! You're the team the Lakers can beat away from Staples. The Sacramento Kings laugh in your direction.)

LeBron was in charge throughout this one, as he always is against the Lakers. He finished with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Yeesh. Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and Eddy Curry (wait, what) led a savage Miami effort on the offensive glass. As a team they made half of their 18 three-point attempts. So Miami wins big. LeBron defeats the Lakers once more. If you like reading those words, good news: I'll be typing them again on March 4, when the Heat visit Staples Center.

One of these two teams is competing for a championship, and it's not the one with 16 banners. More later....