Lakers dominate Heat in Game 1, AD shines with 34 points
The Los Angeles Lakers take a 1-0 series lead against the Miami Heat in a dominating 116-98 win Wednesday night.
For the duration of this game, the Lakers looked like the Golden State Warriors. They shot great from deep, early in the game, going a touch under 40% (39.5) for the game. Anthony Davis was the star of the game, putting up 34 points in his very first NBA Finals appearance. LeBron finished closed to another Final’s triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists. But as aforementioned, the Lakers role players hitting threes early and often is what propelled the Lakers to a big lead, and eventually a win.
“KCP saved us, he hit them two big threes…in the first quarter that got us going and we kind of picked it up on both ends of the floor,” Davis said about Caldwell-Pope and the Lakers after being down in the first quarter.
The Heat had a rough night. They didn't get no real performance from any player other than Jimmy Butler till the game was out of hand in the fourth quarter. He scored 23 points in his first Finals appearance. In what was a bad all-round effort from the Heat was also an injury-riddled game for them. Heat leading scorer in the playoffs Goran Dragic left in the second quarter with what was eventually known to be a torn plantar fascia in his left foot, devasting news for the Heat who struggled to score tonight. Butler left moments before halftime with what appeared to be a left ankle injury. He eventually returned but was obviously hampered by it for the rest of the game and almost caused more harm to it late in the fourth quarter in what was a questionable decision by Erik Spoelstra. Bam Adebayo also left the game shortly with a shoulder injury that came back negative — this is his second time dealing with it in these playoffs.
The Heat showed heart at the end. We got a Kendrick Nunn appearance who came out firing scoring 18 points in about 19 minutes of play. The Heat desperately need him to replicate what we saw tonight if they’re going to push ahead without Dragic. Also, Duncan Robinson needs to wake up and remember this is the Finals fast. They haven’t been down in a series these whole playoffs so this is a new challenge for Spo’s team. Butler thinks they’re going to be fine though:
If the Lakers role players can produce as they did tonight, this might be a short series, especially with all the injuries the Heat suffered. Caruso, Green, and KCP combined for 34 points, a big boost for this team. Lakers’ three-point shooting cooled off in the second half but the game was still a blowout till the end. They cannot let up like they seem to do in that fourth quarter, you can’t give this Miami team life. All three of Miami championships have come after losing Game 1 in the series. LeBron has been there for two of them and knows this is long ways from over despite how tonight went:
Game 2 is Friday.
