Miami Heat: 5 Bold Predictions for the Heat vs. Lakers Showdown in South Beach

The stage is set for a showdown of epic proportions Thursday night when the Miami Heat take the court against the Los Angeles Lakers in South Beach.

The Heat are coming off an impressive come-from-behind trashing of the San Antonio Spurs, and the Lakers are coming off of an ugly, low-scoring win against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

With both LeBron and Kobe playing at MVP caliber levels, the spotlight will be on which player can outperform the other.  Who will put on a better performance?  Will the Miami Heatles stay undefeated against the Lakers?  Can the Heat move to 5-0 with Dwyane Wade on the bench?

Read on to find out the answers to those questions and to read five bold predictions for the monster showdown between Kobe and LeBron taking place in South Beach this Thursday night.

LeBron Will Outperform Kobe in Each Major Statistical Category

The one major difference between the way Kobe and LeBron approach the game is the fact that LeBron has the ability to truly facilitate to those around him, whereas Kobe doesn't.  Kobe might be the purer scorer between the two, but LeBron is a more complete player, and that will be put on display Thursday night.

I know it's somewhat irrelevant because of the years of experience, but just look at both players career stats.  LeBron's career averages are 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.7 spg with a 48.7 percent fgp.  Kobe's career averages are 25.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.5 spg, with a 45.4 percent fgp.  It's clear that LeBron has the edge over Kobe when it comes to the ability to be a more complete player, even scoring wise, and the Los Angeles Lakers are going to see that firsthand Thursday evening in South Beach.

Both LeBron and Kobe are going to have touch defenders on them, with Metta World Peace matching up with LeBron and Shane Battier most likely matching up with Kobe.  LeBron will be able to wear his defender down by getting into the paint like he's done all season long.  Kobe will also be able to outplay Battier with his quick release jumper, but he will struggle more than LeBron because he relies so much on his jumper, whereas LeBron relies on the physicality of his game.

LeBron's stat line:  34 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals 52.5 percent fgp

Kobe's stat line:  28 point, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal 44.0 percent fgp

The Heat's Bench Will Outperform the Laker's Bench

Aside from the dominant performances out of Bosh and James, the Heat's bench play, starting with Mike Miller, was a big difference maker in their comeback win against the Spurs on Tuesday night, and the same will be true when the Heat take the court against the Lakers.

It's like night and day when you compare the per game point production of the first 4 players off the bench for both the Heat and the Lakers.  The Laker's first four off the bench (not including Steve Blake, because of injury) average a measly 15.4  ppg, whereas the Heat's first four off the bench (not including Mike Miller's skewed 18.0 ppg average) average 26.1 ppg.

When you look at both benches and compare the talent at each position, there's no questioning that the Heat have much more depth on their bench as compared to the Lakers, which should be a big concern for the Lakers moving forward in the regular season.

I expect big performances out of Norris Cole and Mike Miller, leading the Heat's bench play to another impressive performance and helping the Heat earn their 10th win of the season.  

LeBron Will Get to the Line More Than Kobe

This prediction will come to fruition for two reasons.  First of all, LeBron has been getting to the line more on average than Kobe this year, with 10.4 free throw attempts per game as compared to Kobe's average of 8.5 attempts per game.

The second reason why LeBron will get to the line more than Kobe is because of the difference in the way both players play the game.  Kobe is a purer scorer, with a more polished jump shot than James, which means that Kobe mainly earns his points from the perimeter of the court.  LeBron on the other hand relies more on his ability to get into the paint to get his points, which results in more contact and subsequently more fouls being called.

Kobe is a much better free throw shooter than LeBron, with a career average of 87.8 percent as compared to LeBron's average of 71.8 percent, but that only shows who the better shooter is.  LeBron is a more dominant player in the paint than Kobe, and he is a more physical player overall which will help James get to the line at least four more times than Kobe when they meet on Thursday night. 

Chris Bosh Will Dominate Pau Gasol

I'll be the first to admit that I've been on the "Chris Bosh is soft" bandwagon for the majority of his career, but Bosh is doing a great job of changing my perspective, especially this season.  People, including me, don't give Bosh anywhere near the credit he deserves, and all he does is continue to produce at impressive levels night in and night out.

Bosh is averaging 20.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 1.1 bpg, which are near his career marks, but the way in which he is getting those numbers is what is truly impressive.  Bosh is starting to take it to the heart of defenses in the paint, instead of relying on his ability to hit shots on the perimeter, and it's turning him into a much more physical player, which is something that the Heat need him to be.

Pau Gasol isn't necessarily struggling this year, but his ppg production is down, in large part due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum.  I expect Bosh to take the game to Gasol, trying to strong-arm him in the low-post and even with the ball on the perimeter on Thursday night.  Bosh will also use his athleticism outside of the paint to beat Gasol off the dribble, which will be a huge advantage throughout the entire night for Bosh.

Coming off of a seriously impressive 30 point, eight rebound performance against the Spurs on Tuesday night, Bosh will follow it up with another impressive outing, totaling 28 points and nine rebounds against Pau Gasol.  With all eyes on LeBron and Kobe, Bosh will be the real difference maker on Thursday night.   

Miami Heat Move to 5-0 Without Dwyane Wade in the Starting Lineup

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, the Miami Heat are 4-0 without Dwyane Wade in the starting lineup, while they're 5-4 with him in the starting lineup.  No, that doesn't mean that the Miami Heat are better off with Wade on the bench.  It simply shows that until Wade is back to 100 percent, there's no point in him suiting up for the Heat. It might hurt Wade's ego, but it's in the best interest of the team.

LeBron, Bosh and company have proven that they can get the job done without Wade, which should give Wade enough time to fully recover from his lingering bruised foot, strained calf and sprained ankle injuries. The Heat have been playing more efficiently without Wade, allowing LeBron to facilitate the pace of the game, something that is going to be a key to beating the Lakers on Thursday night.

With a win over the Lakers, the Miami Heat would move to 5-0 on the year with Wade on the bench, which in the long run means nothing aside from the fact that LeBron James still has the ability to carry a franchise like he did in Cleveland with sub-par talent around him.

The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to beat the Miami Heatles, dropping both matchups last year with Wade in the starting lineup by an impressive average margin of victory of 11 points.  So will LeBron and the Heatles remain undefeated against the Lakers after their matchup on Thursday night?  I think they will, and they'll do so in impressive style.

Prediction:  Miami Heat 104—Los Angeles Lakers 95