Heat vs. Lakers: Red-Hot Miami Team Set to Clobber Lake Show in LA

In what has become one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers will meet in SoCal on Sunday afternoon. Even with a motivated Kobe Bryant on the other side, the streaking Heat should have no issue coming out on top.

At 28-7, the Heat are atop the Eastern Conference and are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak. The Lakers are 21-14, which is good for fourth place in the Western Conference. They have played quite well as of late too, winning six of their past eight contests.

The simple fact that LeBron James and Kobe will be facing off in this game makes it big enough, but there are some extenuating circumstances that will make it an even bigger spectacle. The biggest story will be an incident between Bryant and Heat guard Dwyane Wade in the All-Star Game.

With the Western Conference leading late in Sunday's exhibition, Bryant looked to be going up for an easy dunk, but Wade fouled him hard and sent him to the line. It seemed like Wade was simply trying to wrap Bryant up, but he accidentally hit Kobe in the face with his arm.

This resulted in a broken nose, as well as a concussion and whiplash. Bryant's status for the Laker's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was uncertain, but Bryant was able to play whilst wearing a Rip Hamilton-esque mask that prompted some to dub him the "Masked Mamba."

Wade has apologized and Bryant accepted, but there seems to be some hostility from their respective teammates, so things could get a little chippy on Sunday. If they do, then it likely benefits the Heat as they seem to be the tougher team between the two.

The Lakers have been inconsistent all season long, and aside from Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, there are few regular contributors. Los Angeles sorely needs a point guard and a complementary wing scorer to help the stars out, but it receives virtually nothing from those two positions.

Miami, on the other hand, gets production throughout the lineup. In addition to the stars in James, Wade and Chris Bosh, players like Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Mike Miller and Shane Battier all pitch in to help supplement the Big Three's production.

One possible stumbling block could be the absence of Bosh. The All-Star power forward sat out Miami's most recent game due to a death in the family, and it is unclear whether he will play on Sunday. If he doesn't, it will certainly give the Lakers a big advantage in the post with Bynum and Gasol.

Even if Bosh can't go, though, the Heat have proven capable of winning with players out. They smashed the Portland Trail Blazers without Bosh on Thursday night and have enough depth to do the same thing to the Lakers if Bosh sits out again.

The two teams already met earlier in the season, and the Heat had little trouble in an 11-point win. Miami was without Wade in that game, and James played through the flu, but he still managed to rack up 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. With James and Wade healthy, Miami should have even less of an issue on Sunday.

Make no mistake, the Lakers have a solid team, but they need to make a move or two to get back into the conversation with the league's elite squads. It's hard to argue with the notion that the Heat are the best and hottest team in the league right now, and they'll show the Lakers why.