Even with Chris Bosh ruled out for the season, Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat hope to make the NBA Playoffs in a tight race that has the seventh-place Heat only ahead of eighth-place Brooklyn and ninth-place Charlotte by half a game. Indiana is also lurking only one game back of Miami, as the last two postseason spots in the Eastern Conference are up for grabs.
The Los Angeles Lakers pay Miami their annual respects with a visit to South Beach on Wednesday evening. After losing to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night, the Lakers have already hurt the Heat's playoff chances, and a win in Miami would only further strike a blow to the Heat.
The Lakers, however, continue to toil and battle injuries in their modest quest to complete 82 games. Nick Young is the latest casualty, as LA's sixth man has missed four straight games with a sore left knee and does not expect to be available on Wednesday.
The Lakers are already without Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and Ronnie Price for the season, so Young's injury will likely keep the Lakers at only 10 healthy bodies on Wednesday evening. Of those 10 bodies, however, two players in particular have been stepping up recently.
Jeremy Lin's post-All-Star break sample size continues to grow, and the point guard continues to improve. After his 23-point, eight-assist and six-rebound performance in Charlotte, Lin is up to averaging 18.0 points, 5.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 28.2 minutes over his last six games. Even with three costly turnovers down the stretch in Charlotte, Lin is only averaging 1.0 turnover per game since the NBA's mid-season vacation. Added to all that, the Lakers' point guard is shooting 51.3 percent from the field over this inspired stretch of play.
The other Lakers' point guard, rookie Jordan Clarkson, is also turning heads as he continues to adjust to life in the NBA. Entering Wednesday's contest, Clarkson has started 16 games. In 12 of those 16 games, Clarkson hit double digits in scoring. Overall, the 22-year-old rookie has averaged 14.0 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game as a starter. Clarkson's 1.7 turnovers per game as a starter are especially rare considering the frequency with which he attacks the rim.
In those 16 games, Clarkson shot a healthy 44.7 percent from the field and often looked like the Lakers' best player. For a second round pick who sat for the majority of the first half of the season, Clarkson's rapid growth should have fans in LA excited.
On Wednesday, Clarkson and Lin will face one of the NBA's premier point guards in Dragic. In his six games since joining the Heat, Dragic is averaging 15.0 points, 4.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds, and Miami has won three of the six games since Dragic started playing.
For the Heat's newly acquired point guard, the Lakers are familiar foes. With Phoenix, Dragic already led the Suns to four wins over LA this season. In those four wins, the Slovenian averaged 20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. On Wednesday, Dragic looks for his fifth victory over the Lakers in this 2014/15 NBA season.
Dragic, Lin and Clarkson will take the floor of the American Airlines Arena at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
Notes: The Miami Heat will wear "El Heat" jerseys in celebration of Latin Night in the NBA.
