The Miami Heat look to snap a two-game slide when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers, who also look to break a two-game slide of their own Wednesday night. They jump it up at 10:00 pm. Both teams feel like they have the pieces in place to make a run at the NBA Finals. Bookmaker has installed the Lakers as a solid 6 1/2 point favorite. 

The Heat (19-14) have dropped two straight after a nice little four-game winning streak which has helped them move their record to five games over .500. The Heat have a nice mix of veteran and young players and they are a very solid shooting team from the floor as well. 

Miami is just a 1/2 game back of the Magic in the Southeast Division. On offense, they are led by rising star and 23-year-old Tyler Herro who is averaging 23 points per game to go along with five rebounds and just under five assists per contest.

The Heat would love to push the pace in this one and put pressure on a veteran Lakers team. Look for Herro to get the balls in the hands of center and veteran leader Bam Adebayo who is getting close to 22 a game and is hauling down around 10.4 boards per contest which is good for a career-high early on in the season. 

The Lakers (17-17) have a ton of high expectations heading into the season and they have not played like a team that is ready to make a run. Aside from the league's in-game tournament and such, the Lakers are a flawed team and they need to get more out of their role players. 

They have always been led by veteran and future HOF'er LeBron James who is still logging a ton of minutes at the age of 39. He is playing around 35 minutes per contest and he is averaging around 26 points per night. 

He can still get up and down the floor and he is getting much more help from his teammate Anthony Davis, who is netting around 25 a game. 

Los Angeles connects on close to 55% from the floor, including 35% from beyond the arc. They would love to get point guard D'Angelo Russell into the mix as he is averaging around 14 a game for the Lakers. The Lakers have a ton of talent too, just like the Heat but they need their bench and their role players to step up and make plays when given the opportunity. 

The Lakers are 2-3 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the spread and 8-11 in their road games against the number. The Heat are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They are also 10-7 in their road games against the number.