LOS ANGELES — When it came to the Lakers’ declining defense, “connected” was the buzzword used throughout Wednesday ahead of their matchup against the Miami Heat at Crytpo.com Arena.

Because in their eyes, when they’re in sync and playing defense as a unit, they can compete with anyone in the NBA, coach JJ Redick said.

And in their 117-108 win over the Heat, they showed exactly what that meant.

After a pedestrian first-half defensive performance, the Lakers improved their defensive execution and attention to detail, turning a 12-point deficit at the game’s midway point into a 117-108 victory to end their losing streak at three games.

Anthony Davis diving for a loose ball led to LeBron James’ 3-pointer that cut the Lakers’ once 14-point deficit to one midway through the third encapsulated the shift in defensive intensity the Lakers had in the second half.

The Lakers held the Heat to just 42 second-half points after Miami scored 38 points in the first quarter.

Davis led the Lakers with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.

James, who finished with 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds, scored nine points of his scoring total in the fourth, with his late shotmaking giving the Lakers their first victory since they beat the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 3.

Rui Hachimura finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Austin Reaves had a 14 point-14 assist double-double while Gabe Vincent recorded 14 points and four assists off of the bench.

Tyler Herro led the Heat with 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including knocking down seven 3s.

But Miami turned the ball over 20 times for 23 Lakers’ points, limiting the effectiveness of the Heat’s strong perimeter shooting (16 of 36 on 3s).

The Lakers took 17 more shots than the Heat (90-73) with the help of their ball security, finishing with just seven turnovers.