March 10th at Miami Heat
The Los Angeles Lakers will make their lone visit to South Beach on the 12th, and they will be looking to avenge their embarrassing loss to the Heat on Christmas Day. Much has been made of the Lakers debacle against the Heat, so this game will be the last chance the Lakers will have to reapir their reputation.
The crowd will be absolutely packed, and the Miami fans will see an epic clash of two NBA powerhouses. The Lakers played a horrendous game on Christmas, and their effort and energy was completely non-existent. In order for the Los Angeles to come out on top, they must be focused and fully engaged in the game. The Heat will try to turn the game into a track-meet, but the Lakers must force Miami to play a half-court game.
March 12th at Dallas Mavericks
This will be the Lakers second of three meetings with the Dallas Mavericks, and they hope the outcome of this game will be different from the one on January 19th. The Mavericks are also battling the Lakers for playoff positioning, and if the standings stay the way they are, the Lakers and Mavs would play each other in the second round. This mid-March match-up will the final game of the Lakers’ four game road-trip, so it is imperative for them to head home on the winning side.
The Mavericks will present many problems for the Lakers, since they have the ability to “catch fire” in the blink of an eye. However, the game will be decided based on the performance of the teams’ benches. The team with the most productive reserves will end up victorious in this Western Conference showdown.
