Final Score: LAL 102 MIA 96 - Lakers Lead 3-1
Welcome in to the full recap of Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers rebounded from an ugly Game 3 loss that was marred by turnovers and foul trouble. They pick up the victory tonight in a 102-96 win and take once again a 3-1 lead. They're only one win away from their 17th NBA Championship.
This was not an easy game to close out. The Heat are a very dangerous team when you let them within striking distance, especially in that 4th quarter. This was a slow game to start. But a good defensive one. At the 2nd half though, the Lakers once again did what they did and clamp down on the Miami Heat offense. No Jimmy Butler to go off for another 40-point game. He started a perfect 5-5 in the first quarter, but struggled mightily down the stretch. Frank Vogel made the adjustment of having Anthony Davis guard Butler rather than the returning Bam Adebayo and AD's presence proved to be a huge factor for the Lakers today. Coach Vogel was on top of the adjustments this game with AD checking Butler and making the 2nd half adjustment in putting Markieff Morris in the starting lineup when Dwight Howard was ineffective for the most part this game.
AD the last game was a non-factor due to early foul trouble. But tonight, he impacted the game all-around. As I mentioned, Vogel assigned AD to guard Butler for the majority game. His size and length did a great job disrupting Jimmy B's line of sight to the basket for the most part. Down the stretch, he was huge on both ends with a dagger three to put the Lakers up 100-91 and a big block on Butler in the final seconds to deny Miami's bid for an improbable run. He bounced back with a solid all-around game with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
LeBron James struggled early on in this game. He was held in check to single digits in the first half. But the second half is when he really got going. The turnovers were still prevalent as James committed 6 turnovers, leading the Lakers in that category. He did take some questionable shot selections from behind the arc. The Lakers were in a close game and he just continued to chuck up 3s in that third quarter. Luckily enough, Rajon Rondo was in position to block out and get the offensive rebounds during those sequences for the Lakers.
The supporting cast showed up for this game. As I mentioned, Rondo didn't score much with 2 points, but was impactful on the offensive boards with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma had a dip in scoring that we expected on game-by-game basis, but each contributed with 9 points. Alex Caruso added 7 points and sacrificed his body like usual to draw charges. Danny Green got off to a hot start with 10 points, but cooled off since then. The main headline though, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, had 15 points. KCP was huge tonight with 8 points to start. He cooled down a little bit. But in the big moment, he went on a mini 5-0 run with a clutch 3 in the corner and a driving layup to put the Lakers up 95-88 in the final seconds of the 4th. He can be hard to trust in those situations, but the poise was evident out there. You can say Klutch Sports took over this game for the Lakers. LeBron, AD, and KCP are a part of that agency with agent, Rich Paul. They are the top three leading scorers for the Lakers tonight.
The free throw disparity was the main reason that this game was close for the most part. I think I remember on the ESPN graphic, the Lakers only had 3 free throw attempts while the Heat had 16 of them. You could tell all the calls were favoring the Heat for the most part. Miami got away with a whole lot of contact in some spurts of the game. By the end of the game though, the Lakers were starting to get calls in their favor and the fact that they put Miami in the penalty early on was huge. By the end of the game, the free throws were a lot closer with the Heat attempting 26 while the Lakers finished with 21 free throw attempts.
Well, the Lakers have been here before if the last three series were any indication. Miami has not been in this situation throughout this postseason. The Lakers are one win away from another title. The job is not finished though as Kobe Bryant would mutter out. Especially with two extra days, the Heat have ample time to be at full strength. We don't know how serious Goran Dragic's foot is or whether he can return to the court. Regardless, you can expect the Heat to come out with more desperation than they have all postseason long. For the Lakers, this is it. The message for Game 5 is simple: leave nothing out there on the court! LeBron and AD have to kick it into high gear. The supporting cast, we're going to need you to step your game up once more. Just for this one more game, leave nothing behind and give it your all. Get this 'ship! For Kobe! For Gigi! For Chick Hearn! And for Dr. Jerry Buss! Just one more baby! Let's wrap this up on Friday! I'll see you guys later.
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