5 Burning Questions for Miami Heat-LA Lakers Showdown

This isn't your typical post-New Year's matchup of the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference and the 11th-placed team out West.

When the Miami Heat travel to Staples Center for Thursday night's nationally-televised showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers, both teams will hope to answer some of the burning questions surrounding the teams.

The Lakers have been a far cry from the offseason's crowned champions of the Western Conference, but a recent two-game winning streak has given a pulse back to their playoff hopes.

Miami, meanwhile, had dropped three of its past four games, before Wednesday night's 92-75 victory over the Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
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