Lakers vs. Heat Final Score: Justise Winslow’s career-high burns Lakers in 115-107 loss

The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t catch a break despite getting off to a hot start, once again collapsing in a 115-107 loss to the Miami Heat. The Lakers have gone 1-12 since being at an even .500 at the start of December, looking downtrodden as they played Game 6 of their seven game road trip.

The Lakers led by as many as 19 points and started the game on an 11-0 run. The purple and gold were in control of the game just as they were in Charlotte, and yet they let another win slip away little by little as the game progressed.

Things came to a head for the Lakers in the third quarter as they scored just 20 points while tossing their lead out of the window, but they also gave up 36 points in the second quarter which served as a red flag going into halftime. They Lakers gave up 56 points in the paint against Miami, still having no answer to their lack of rim protection.

Hassan Whiteside jammed home dunk after dunk on his way to 23 points and 13 rebounds. Tyler Johnson and Goran Dragic hit a handful of nail-hammering threes in the fourth quarter, and that was all she wrote. The duo combined for 35 points, draining seven of their 12 three-point attempts. Justise Winslow notched a career-high 23 points.

It was a familiar story for the Lakers on offense as Nick Young and Lou Williams scored in bunches in a deflating loss. Williams scored a game-high 27 points, continuing his march toward Sixth Man of the Year despite the losses stacking up. Young was locked in from deep, draining five of his 11 three-point attempts. He finished the night with 20 points, but it was all for naught. D’Angelo Russell scored 17 points with seven assists, but also coughed up six turnovers.

The Lakers get to do it all over again Friday night in Orlando, ending their road trip before heading home for Christmas.