Jaime Jaquez Jr’s big scoring punch not enough against Luka Doncic, Lakers: three takeaways

The road trip continues for the Miami Heat, as a back to back in Los Angeles was next up on the schedule. First up was the LA Lakers on Sunday night, as the Heat remained without Norman Powell who continues to deal with that groin soreness.

The Lakers, on the other hand, are trending in the healthier direction, as Luka Doncic made his return in the previous game next to Austin Reaves and company.

One overarching theme is while there are fun storylines to this current young and fast Heat rotation, it’s not a trusted group to close out games against good teams without the half-court on-ball scoring punch of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. Miami has performed better than expected in the spot they are in, but they need their elite scorers.

Anyways, let’s get into some takeaways from this match-up tonight:

Nov 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Miami Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo (13) charges the net against Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Heat have been generating a good amount of threes this season, even in the absence of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. They’ve been leaning into their rim attackers to attract the defense, and kick-out to the others for open perimeter shots. Except the story-line of this Lakers game for Miami was that they couldn’t buy a three. Although Kel’el Ware knocked down a three early in the first quarter, the Heat couldn’t get another one to drop for about a quarter and change. They were below 30% from deep at halftime, and stood at 1 for 12 shooting from beyond the arc into the second quarter. It’s not surprising to not shoot well when without your two outside snipers, but the only way to fill that scoring void is to shoot above your head in that area. Miami put themselves in an extremely tough spot.

Nov 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) dunks against Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11), forward Dalton Knecht (4), and guard Austin Reaves (15) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

In the homecoming game back in Los Angeles for Jaime Jaquez Jr, he was staring at an extremely strong match-up. After the big paint presence a game ago with Victor Wembanyana, he couldn’t wait to get back to his paint attacks against the Lakers. He scored a quick 10 points in the final 6 minutes of the first quarter alone, leading to a 16 point half with 9 free throw attempts. It’s all early clock off the dribble work where he finds a crevice to attack into the paint, leading to attention and contact for him to find his way to the charity stripe. He’s been the one staple for the Heat as somebody to offensively rely on, which was far from expected heading into the year. He’s been efficient. he’s played fast, and he’s been a high level scorer for this Heat team. And as you zoom out and evaluate Tyler Herro and Powell’s upcoming return, it’ll only elevate the play of Jaquez Jr in this offense.

Nov 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić (77) reacts after being fouled by Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio (0) and guard Dru Smith (12) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Just as the Miami Heat did in the previous game against the San Antonio Spurs, once they found themselves facing a large deficit, they adjusted to the reliable slight press that backs into a 2-3 zone. It allowed a slight comeback in that game, and it did the same late in the third tonight. It’s a tough thing to gauge at times since it can only be utilized against certain lineups and players. For example, Erik Spoelstra waited to unleash it with the second unit once Luka Doncic was off the floor, as he’s a player who can tear it apart. It appears the zone defense, that was once a base for them over the last few years, has become a jump-starter for Heat runs to kick off this year. Definitely something to keep an eye on. All they’re missing is the run capitalizer, which as I mentioned previously, currently sits on the bench in Herro and Powell.