SACRAMENTO — The Lakers’ summer league squad didn’t get off to its desired start, falling to the Miami Heat, 107-90, on Monday afternoon to kick off the six-team California Classic.

The Heat took a 22-16 first-quarter lead after Orlando Robinson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer and ran away with the game from there.

Guard Max Christie played with the poise and confidence of a second-year player, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.

Jalen Hood-Schifino, who the Lakers selected with the No. 17 pick in last month’s NBA draft, showed flashes of his playmaking ability (four assists) but struggled with his shot. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting to go with five rebounds.

Colin Castleton finished well as an interior scorer (11 points on 5-of-5 shooting) and passed well, but he struggled with playing clean defense. He picked up six fouls in just 16 minutes.

Cole Swider added 13 points (three 3-pointers) and five rebounds in 24 minutes.

The Lakers didn’t find consistent answers defensively, allowing the Heat to shoot 52.1% from the field (38 for 73) and 45.5% from 3-point range (15 for 33).

“Like I told a lot of our young guys, it’s their first game. It’s going to take some bumps and bruises,” Lakers summer league coach JD DuBois said. “The process doesn’t change, win or lose. We got better from the first half to the second. Now we can get better from game one to game two.”

Miami was led by first-round draft pick and former UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. (22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, 3 for 7 from 3-point range) and second-year forward Nikola Jović (21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes), the No. 27 pick in the 2022 draft.

The Lakers announced Castleton and D’Moi Hodge signed their two-way contracts ahead of Monday’s game.

They’ll play again Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs at Golden 1 Center before competing in the league-wide Summer League in Las Vegas.

Scotty Pippen Jr. wasn’t available for the Lakers because of a sprained left ankle. He was on the bench but not in uniform. DuBois said he wasn’t sure whether Pippen would be available against the Spurs.

Related Articles