Los Angeles Lakers v Miami Heat
The Miami Heat have had a magical run in this bubble. No one had them making the finals, but they played their best basketball and gained incredible confidence. The Lakers destroyed all of that in game one. They showed the Heat why they are the heavy favorites to win the title. The Heat, at one point, built a 13 point lead, but the Lakers went on a huge run to end the first half and took a 17 point lead into halftime and never looked back as they rolled to a 116-98 win.
The Heat had no answer for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They dominated this game, and no one on the Heat could match the Lakers’ duo tonight. C Bam Adebayo (2-8FG 4-6FT 8PTS 4REB), who played a monster series against the Celtics, was completely shut down. The Heat also lost veteran PG Goran Dragic to a torn plantar fascia in his left foot, which will probably keep him out for the rest of the Finals.
The Lakers could not have asked for a more complete game than the one they played on Wednesday night. The offense was clicking, especially from behind the arc. The Lakers shot nearly 40% and close to 93% from the free-throw line. James (25PTS 13REB 9AST) and Davis (34PTS 9REB 5AST 3BLK) were unstoppable. Neither of them had to play forty minutes either, so they will still be fresh for game two. Frank Vogel also gets props as he had the Lakers ready to take down game one. In previous rounds, this team looked indifferent about winning game one, adding pressure to subsequent games.
The Heat have yet to lose two games in a row, but with the injuries and how great the Lakers looked, I think that streak might have reached its peak.