Lakers Coronation Denied: Heat Stave Off Elimination

Final Score: MIA 111 LAL 108 - Lakers Lead 3-2

Welcome in to the full recap. The Miami Heat live to fight another day as they scratched and clawed to a 111-108 win. They prevent the Lakers from celebrating a 17th title tonight.

I'm gonna sound like a Debbie downer throughout this post. So bear with me. 

WE WERE SO CLOSE!

The finish of that game really hurt. If you're an NBA fan, definitely this was a game for the ages. Especially when the Lakers rallied, both these teams exchanged bucket after bucket. And it set up a thrilling finish at the end.

But if you're a Laker fan, like I am, I feel like my heart just shattered into a thousand pieces after seeing that final possession. They just needed one bucket. Heat had no timeouts and had to go the length the court. And they came up empty handed.

In all fairness, kudos to the Miami Heat. This has been their M.O. throughout the postseason. They haven't been in a 3-1 hole and as I mentioned last game, I expected them to come out as the more desperate team. And they did just that. Jimmy Butler stepped up when he needed to. 35 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, 5 steals. He's one of the best two-way players for a reason. But, the main killer this game was Duncan Robinson. He has been a consistent double-figure scorer this postseason, but this kid had the game of his life tonight. 27 points and shot a scorching hot 7-13 from 3s. He made a couple of four-point play opportunities from those. Kendrick Nunn also stepped up with 14 points off the bench. He literally was the bench as Miami went with a 7-man rotation tonight.

Now onto the Lakers, total wasted effort tonight. It's been awhile since I've been this disappointed. LeBron James laid it all on the line out there with 40 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. He was smoking the race for Finals MVP. He played throughout the entire 4th quarter.

Wasted. 

Anthony Davis, bad heel and all, doing it on both ends of the floor with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. He was hobbled during those final seconds and still willed himself in true Mamba Mentality fashion to finish the game.

Wasted.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had another big game. He finished with 16 points on 6-15 shooting. He gave the Lakers back their first lead with a three at the 6:20 mark and had another big bucket to put them up by three.

Wasted. Wasted all because of a botched final possession. LeBron made a play, got the Heat defense to gravitate towards him. Danny Green is all alone at the top, had a wide open look and he missed it. Markieff Morris had the rebound, he had LeBron open at the wing, but opted to force a pass inside to AD. Out of bounds. Heat basketball. The Lakers lose for the first time in the Mamba jerseys.

The supporting cast outside of KCP, Rondo, and Dwight with the limited minutes he had were such a huge letdown. I've defended Kyle Kuzma all postseason long. But, he was garbage tonight. 'Kieff was a non-factor tonight. Alex Caruso also didn't make too much of an impact. Danny Green, I could care less if he was +8 on the floor. As if he can't disappoint us more enough offensively in these playoffs. He had the chance to be the Lakers' John Paxson in 1993 and erase everything we've said about him throughout. But, nope same old Danny Green. Seriously, "how many more" threes are you gonna miss? Huge letdown.

I got nothing more to say. They lost in the Mamba jerseys. Just drop the show now. You only win once with them every round. As I mentioned, I had this series go six, but the way the Lakers dropped the ball tonight, I have never been this disappointed to see my prediction come true. If Miami won by 15, I wouldn't have any problem. But, it was such a close game that met a disappointing finish, especially when LeBron and AD were giving it everything they got. It's a wait and see on Sunday. We'll be refreshing the news feed on AD's aggravated heel injury. But, the Lakers gotta look back at this and come out in Game 6 with a lot of anger. The Heat were more aggressive tonight. It's a must that the Lakers respond in kind, especially after a letdown like this. I'll see you guys later.

"The Butler Did It" - Lakers Couldn't Contain Jimmy Buckets in Game 3 Loss

Final Score: LAL 104 MIA 115 - Lakers Lead 2-1

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The shorthanded Miami Heat pulled off an inspiring performance, behind Jimmy Butler's 40-point triple-double as they beat the heavily-favored Lakers 104-115.

Despite the loss, the Lakers hung around  throughout the game, eventually recapturing the lead at 91-89 at the 9:01 mark in the 4th. It was just a couple of things that were eventually magnified down the stretch. For the good parts of the game: Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma stepped up with the scoring off the bench. They combined for 38 points, 19 each, both on 6-13 shooting. They brought the scoring and 3-point spark while the rest were a non-factor in that category. 

The offense got off to a very slow start with turnovers and early foul trouble from AD. Kuz and Kieff's timely buckets kept the Lakers hanging around when it looked like the Heat were pulling away. LeBron James had to pick up the slack when the Heat completely took out Anthony Davis this game. It was a mixed bag game for LeBron with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks but 8 turnovers and he did struggle from the free throw line.

I already hinted at the games, so I'll go in-depth on them. The turnovers and AD in foul trouble are two big negatives that kept the Lakers out of reach this game. They started off the game with 10 turnovers in the first quarter! They totaled 19 turnovers throughout the game. The ball movement was so sloppy tonight. While there was more activity on Miami's defensive end than the last two games, it was more so of a series of mental errors on the Lakers' part tonight. 

Anthony Davis is off to hot start in these finals. This game? Not so much. The big reason? Foul trouble. AD committed 3 fouls in the 1st half and it pretty took him off his game and forced the Lakers to play small ball. The Heat cashed in on that opportunity big time. The Lakers' loss of rim protection is the Heat's gain of spacing the floor. That lack up of rim protection opened huge lanes for them to attack the basket and the Lakers were caught rotating late because of the miscommunication on defense. It also allowed them to just zone in on LeBron, despite the fact he still dominated found ways to attack the paint.

We gotta give where credit is due, Jimmy Butler put the team on his back tonight with 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. The Laker defense had no answer for him. It didn't matter who was on him. He looked like Michael Jordan out there, automatic with his midrange jumper. He did most of his damage when smaller guys like KCP and Caruso guarded him off a switch. He was as aggressive as a facilitator as well. Jae Crowder, Duncan Robinson, and Kelly Olynyk were each in double figures. Tyler Herro struggled for most of the game, but finished strong with clutch scoring to put the game on ice. All of them got the benefit off of Jimmy Buckets' unselfish play.

We shouldn't be surprised. The Lakers tend to drop a game throughout this postseason. But really, it was such an uncharacteristic game with the early turnovers and AD in foul trouble. Solid performances by Kuz and Kieff off the bench were definitely wasted tonight. It's difficult to ask for consistency from them. We'll see what happens. The Lakers are expected to still take the championship. But, the Heat will be rewarded for this inspiring performance with Bam Adebayo getting healthy for Game 4 to bolster their frontcourt. It was fun while it lasted, but the Lakers have to rebound and stay locked in. These NBA Finals are far from done based on how this game went. I'mma have to jump in to the Raiders-Bills recap now. It's not a good feeling when both these teams lose on the same day. I'll see you guys later.

AD, LeBron, Rondo Dominate Shorthanded Heat to Take 2-0 Series Lead

Final Score: MIA 114 LAL 124 - Lakers Lead 2-0

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Despite being shorthanded, the Heat did all they can. But, they were overmatched at the end of the day as the Lakers dominate them again 114-124 to take a 2-0 series lead.

We're halfway there. Miami came in absolutely overmatched with Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic out. We expected the Lakers to take advantage of this mismatch. For the most part, they did. They did what needed to be done. Against LeBron and AD when they're roaming in the paint, the Heat's zone defense were sitting ducks. They were just absolutely void of size and length to counter the dynamic duo for the purple and gold.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Rajon Rondo carried this team to this win. AD just brutalized the Heat, especially in that 3rd quarter. Nobody on Miami's roster was able to box him out or put a body on him. It didn't matter because the Brow barely missed from the field and was a machine on the offensive boards. He finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds on 15-20 shooting. As I keep saying throughout when he puts up these kinds of numbers: he's a man among boys.

LeBron James lead the team with 33 points. He almost recorded a triple-double with 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Pretty much, if you're the shorthanded Heat playing your typical zone defense, you have AD manhandling your entire roster. Once you put more attention on him, that frees up LeBron to attack. There's no sugarcoating it, the Heat defense have no answer in slowing down LeBron and AD. They are in a no-win situation when they have to account for both, especially missing key guys on the floor.

Rajon Rondo was huge off the bench with 16 points and 10 assists and connected on three 3-pointers. I'll get to the atrocious 3-point shooting shortly, but Rondo was the only one who was consistently knocking them down tonight. The Heat dared him to shoot and they paid the price for that. Against the zone, he picked Miami apart. He picked his spots and scored or found AD or LeBron roaming in the paint. He may not like the "Playoff Rondo" nickname. But time and time throughout this postseason he has came up big.

The only reasons that this game was close than it should've been was the high number of 3-point attempts and the Lakers gifting them free throws. Especially, when they have AD dominating like he did in the 3rd quarter, they let the Heat hang around with foul trouble. They are a great free throw shooting team and had 34 attempts and connected on 31 of those free throws. Not to mention, Heat players who barely played stepped up, especially Kelly Olynyk. I wouldn't know what to say if the Heat came back thanks to a 24-point performance from Olynyk off the bench. 

The 3-point shooting was the most frustrating part of the game. The Lakers set a finals record for 3-pointers attempted with 47 shots from behind the arc. But they only connected on 16 of them. This game should've been a 30-point win against this hapless, injury-ridden Miami Heat squad if the Lakers connected on 50% of those attempts! The open shots missed by Danny Green and KCP on the wings pissed me off. It's amazingly bad when Rondo shoots more efficiently than them when he's not even a good 3-point shooter himself. It should never come to that. Overall, the supporting cast outside of Rondo and Dwight Howard who got off to a hot start with 6 points and 2 blocks, was underwhelming compared to Game 1. As I said, the Lakers made this game close than it should've been because they were hideous on the 3-point game. You miss those, you let a good 3-point shooting team and a good free throw shooting team to hang around.

Whether it's a 10-point win or should've been a 30-point win, what's constant is that the Lakers handled their business tonight. They stay perfect with a 4-0 record when donning the Mamba jerseys in this postseason. As for Miami, they may be overmatched, but they have some fight left in them. It's not going to be easy to put away this team. The only difference is that this Heat team is not used to being down 0-2. Throughout these playoffs, they've gone 2-0 and they're confidence soared. The tables have turned. We don't know how long Dragic is out. We don't know how long Bam is out. The Lakers must stay the course and put Miami out of their misery for these next two games. I'll see you guys on Sunday for Game 3.

Lakers Crush the Heat in NBA Finals Opener

Final Score: MIA 98 LAL 116 - Lakers Lead 1-0

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals. The Lakers overcome an early 13-point deficit and never looked back. LeBron, AD, and the rest of the supporting cast helped the Lakers cruise past the Heat to a 98-116 shellacking to take Game 1 in this series.

One down, three more to go. Miami showed no fear at the start of the game. The 2-3 zone was effective early on. It got the Lakers off rhythm and they got off to a good start offensively to take the early 23-10 lead in the first quarter. The Lakers had to take two timeouts during that quarter to get things settled. They get a much needed spark from KCP. KCP knocked down back-to-back threes to get the Lakers within 7 points. From then on, they went on a 19-3 run to close at the quarter. The impressive part is that most of the points they've accumulated on that spurt, LeBron was taking his normal rest on the bench. Miami last saw the lead at the 7:33 mark of the 2nd quarter off a 3-point bucket from Tyler Herro. After that, it was all Lakers with AD and LeBron doing most of the damage.

Big ups to the supporting cast for showing up tonight. I said it in my preview, they must step up if the Lakers want to beat the 2-3 zone, which is the staple of the Heat defense. Which means they gotta be active, get to their spots, and also knock down their threes. They did that tonight. They started shooting an efficient 11-17 from threes. KCP as I mentioned started that with the back-to-back threes to let the Lakers shake off some Game 1 Finals jitters. He finished with 13 points, 2 steals, and 1 block. Danny Green was also big on both ends with 11 points, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Kyle Kuzma may have struggled in scoring, but he crashed the boards with 8 points. What won't show up on the stats sheet is how good of a job he did defending the rookie stud, Tyler Herro. Every time those two matched up, Kuz got the better of Herro with his size and length. Dwight Howard, also didn't have a lot of eye-opening numbers, but he did his job in crashing the boards for 2nd chance points and playing unselfish basketball finding a cutting AD twice for easy dunks. Alex Caruso lead the bench in scoring with 10 points. Markieff Morris followed with 8 points. And Rajon Rondo added with 7 points and 4 assists. We're gonna need this group to be consistent if the Lakers are serious on taking home the title.

It was not a bad debut for Anthony Davis in his first NBA Finals game. He might've been jittery at the start, but he overcame those same jitters by piling up 34 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. As I said, he's going to have to come up big once again. Outside of Bam Adebayo, the Heat have nobody else to check him because they are notorious for playing small ball. Once Bam went out of the game, the Heat simply just had no answer for a very aggressive and active AD. As for LeBron, he got the better of his former team on this one. He finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists. He was 1 assist shy of yet another triple-double in the finals. And he took the assignment of shadowing Jimmy Butler early on, which is to be expected. You always want to see a team's best player defend the opposition's best, especially in the biggest stage like these NBA Finals.

Despite the dominant win, I have one negative I want to call out and it's been a habit all season long. When the Lakers build up a big lead, they let their foot off the gas and make the scoreboard as respectable than indicated. The 4th quarter this game was supposed to be garbage time. Unfortunately, LeBron and AD have to keep playing until 1:23 left in the 4th when it's all said and done. If you're Frank Vogel, you don't want your two superstars to play unnecessary minutes when the opposition has been thoroughly outplayed up to the 4th. The Heat had the injury bug bite them tonight with Jimmy Butler sustaining ankle injury, Goran Dragic with a foot, and Bam Adebayo with a shoulder. Yet in some spurts, the Heat have cut the deficit and LeBron and AD have to play extended minutes to restore order and completely seal this game. I don't want to see LeBron and AD continue to play until the 1:23 mark of the 4th quarter when the Lakers already got this one in the bag. The last thing we want to see is an unnecessary injury in garbage time. Or if you can call it that because they let their guard down for a bit. I would call that the only blemish for this game and the supporting cast involved even though the entire team played great.

Overall, great win tonight. The Lakers were active and moving around, blowing up the Heat's zone defense. It's unfortunate on the injuries concerning Butler, Dragic, and Adebayo. As a fan, you don't want injuries on the opposition to be a blemish on your team's championship. But, then again they're part of the game and it's a "next man up" mentality. The Lakers flexed tonight under the LeBron's leadership. That man has been through the ups and downs in all 10 of his NBA Finals appearances and the Lakers have answered the call tonight. There's no question Erik Spoelstra and the Heat will make adjustments for next game. That tends to be the pattern in every series the Lakers have been in thus far throughout this postseason. 

I remember in 2009 when the Lakers dominated the Magic, Kobe Bryant said in his postgame regarding how the Magic would respond after one game in the finals: "this is nothing to them. We just gotta forget about this game and move on to the next one." That has to be the Lakers' mentality. They bullied the Heat this game. But it's only one game and you have to anticipate that they'll bounce back in a big way. Enjoy the win now. Forget it tomorrow and move onto Game 2. They have three more to go to capture that 17th title. I'll see you guys later.

2020 NBA Finals Preview: Lakers vs. Miami Heat

Welcome in to the 2020 NBA Finals preview. And then there were two! The Lakers are close to the finish line. But, they have one more obstacle standing in their way for championship #17. The Miami Heat have punched their ticket to the NBA Finals after defeating the Boston Celtics in 6. They too, are looking to add another championship banner in their franchise history.

The Miami Heat are better than what their record and seeding shows. They were the backend pick to emerge out of the Eastern Conference. The obvious front runners were the Milwaukee Bucks. Everybody penciled the Bucks in as the favorites. But, they were eliminated early on by this very same Heat team. 

The Heat are a team that plays hard on both ends of the floor. Given Coach Erik Spoelstra's pedigree on the defensive end, they defend at a high level, which is a testament to that hard-nosed culture that Pat Riley established down in South Beach. They are a team with young rising stars and a mix of battle-hardened veterans. Bam Adebayo has emerged as one of the best big men in the league. Tyler Herro is only a rookie, but he has blossomed into a superstar during this postseason run. Then, you add on one of the best two-way players in the league in Jimmy Butler and the veteran presence of Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder, and Andre Iguodala. This team has a healthy balance of young and old that could score and defend. To top it all off, they played criminally underrated, unselfish team basketball throughout this season.

As I mentioned, this team is a backend pick to represent the Eastern Conference. Still, they have put together an improbable playoff run to the NBA Finals. They dispatched the Indiana Pacers easily in the first round. But from there, their playoff resume becomes more impressive. The Milwaukee Bucks were an odds-on favorite to possibly win it all with Giannis Antetokounmpo winning DPOY and MVP. The Heat absolutely broke their spirits in a gentlemen's sweep. It took the Bucks an OT win to stave off a complete 4-0 sweep, but it wasn't enough to stop the inevitable. In the Conference Finals, they made life tough on a decent, well-coached Celtics team. Their zone defense gave Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and the rest of those guys all kinds of trouble.  

The Lakers may have swept the regular season series, but to notch wins against this very same Miami Heat was no easy task. Now, there are some different parts added / lost, which makes this matchup even more intriguing. The 2-3 zone defense is the longtime staple defense of the Heat. How the Lakers exploited that was that they had LeBron, AD, McGee, and Dwight attack the paint quickly before that zone defense could get set. To beat this zone, players have to be constantly on the move. The Lakers have LeBron and AD, but ball watching them should be held to a minimum. We need to see Laker players actively cutting and getting to their spots for an easy basket. Teams struggle with 2-3 zone if they don't have consistent knockdown shooters, which the Lakers obviously fall under. It's essential that guys like Caruso, KCP, Kuzma, and Markieff Morris are in the right spots at the right time, making LeBron and Rondo's job easy as the initiators on offense and to take some of the scoring load off Anthony Davis.

Regarding Bam Adebayo, the Lakers already faced a similar big man who can score and facilitate. I'm talking about Nikola Jokic in the most recent series with the Nuggets. Obviously Bam is much more athletic than Joker is and a much better defender. Throughout this postseason, Bam is the only true Center for the Heat. They do have Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk, but they've committed to "small ball," which has worked for them to this point. The Lakers as they did with Jokic need to take Bam out of the game early. And it starts with the Lakers' big man trio of Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and Javale McGee using their size and length to disrupt him.

As I mentioned before, AD is the jack-of-all-trades that can counter any skilled big man. He has the luxury of Dwight and Javale who could spare him as they're both solid rim protectors in their own right. I think the biggest factor is how healthy AD's ankle is. It could be a deciding factor in this series. Like in the Nuggets series, AD is going to have to be big here, especially since LeBron will have Jimmy Butler and Andre Iguodala checking him. Iggy may be getting up there in age, but he's one of the few that could defend LeBron, especially in these finals, dating back to the four consecutive Cavs-Warriors finals. But we know LeBron will be up for the challenge and still put up amazing numbers. AD must follow suit and take his game to a higher level on the NBA's biggest stage.

Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder, and Duncan Robinson could blow up the Lakers' gameplans in smoke. We've raved about "Herro-ball" in the playoffs. But the savvy veteran Dragic has come on in the postseason as well. The Lakers facing him again is giving me PTSD on when they faced the Suns in 2010 Western Conference Finals. Dragic was a handful in those series and you don't want to wake up "the Dragon" like Sasha Vujacic did. He surprisingly leads this team in scoring this postseason with 21 a game. Overall, this is what is lowkey scary about this Heat team is that they have six different players scoring double digit points on a consistent basis. We mentioned Herro, Dragic, Butler, and Bam. But Jae Crowder and Duncan Robinson, they are knockdown shooters and have consistently connected on their 3-pointers throughout the postseason. For the Lakers, they've had their supporting options show up, but on a game-by-game basis. First, it would be KCP. Then Rondo. Then Caruso. Then Morris. No matter how you look at it, the supporting cast is going to need to show up consistently throughout these series for the Lakers to pull it out. Especially when canceling out six different double-digit scorers on one team.

This finals matchup does not have the prestige that a Lakers-Celtics matchup does, but there's a lot of legacy storylines to explore. This finals matchup is pretty much full circle for LeBron James. Ten years ago, "the Decision" happened. LeBron infamously announced that he was teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to a form a prime Big 3 with the Miami Heat. They won two championships out of four finals appearances. Pat Riley and the Heat culture helped LeBron get over that hump and turned him into an NBA champion. The Decision. The Homecoming. This is another challenge for LeBron's legacy. He has the chance to win the championship with one of the NBA's historic franchises against a team that turned him into a champion in the first place.

Erik Spoelstra has a lot riding on this matchup as well. He is a 2x NBA champion as head coach of the Miami Heat. But, many have questioned the legitimacy of those championships given that he inherited a team with 3 All-Stars in their prime. Since the end of the Miami "Big 3" era, Coach Spo has not gotten over that hump or rekindled that championship pedigree. He has a chance to prove that his championship coaching is not a product of that Miami superteam that was formed 10 years ago. And he'll prove that against the player that was the catalyst of that team coming together. 

Frank Vogel had a lot of interesting "chess matches" with Erik Spoelstra during those epic Heat-Pacers playoff series from 2012-2014. But, he always ended up on the short end of the stick. Vogel outcoaching Spo in the biggest stage would erase all those bitter losses especially now that he has LeBron this time around. This is the matchup that everybody will overlook. Both coaches implore their teams to play hard and defend at the highest level. 

Those are the legacy storylines thus far and there will be more surrounding this matchup. We've overexaggerated on the matchups against Portland, Houston, and Denver. But, I feel that the Heat give the Lakers a legitimate challenge in this postseason: an emerging big man, a fearless rookie, one of the best two-way players in the league, knockdown shooters, a veteran with championship experience, and a coach with championship experience. Not to mention, AD is a bit hobbled. We'll see how that ankle holds up. But, this should be a great finals matchup. Many have wanted a Lakers-Heat finals matchup for some time, especially when the Heat Big 3 formed and Kobe, Gasol, Phil Jackson, and the late 2000s Lakers still ruled the league with back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. It's an obscure matchup nowadays, but it still will be interesting to watch. The Lakers have a lot of finals experience with a superstar and four key veterans who've been there before. The Heat don't have that luxury. But, we gotta look back at the 2004 Detroit Pistons to prove that finals experience don't matter. This Heat team is young and they are hungry. They actually do remind me of those '04 Pistons. They defend at a high level and play unselfish basketball to give their teammates high percentage looks. As long as the Lakers stay locked in, things should be fine. I'd say this series goes six games and I'm confident that the Lakers will walk out of the NBA Bubble with the Larry O'Brien trophy in hand. Four more for Kobe! That's all that needs to be said. I'll see you guys on Wednesday.