LA Lakers vs Miami Heat – Thursday October 1
The Lakers and Heat collide for Game 1 of the NBA Finals at 11am (all times AEST). It marks the first time in NBA history that two teams have come from missing the playoffs the previous season to meet in the Finals.
LA have largely cruised through to the decider, winning all three of their series over the Blazers, Rockets and Nuggets in five games.
Denver looked the most threatening to Frank Vogel’s team, giving them tight contests in every contest bar Game 1. As we’ve seen so many times in the past, LeBron James put his team on his back in Game 5 and came up big in the fourth quarter to ensure they wouldn’t fall down.
Both LeBron (averaged 27 points, 10.4 rebounds, nine assists against the Nuggets) and Anthony Davis (31.2 points, 6.2 rebound) led the team magnificently in the Conference Finals, but they may need more consistency from their role players to put away the well-balanced Heat.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma were the Lakers’ third and fourth leading scorers against Denver, averaging 11.2 and 9.6 points respectively. Rajdon Rondo and Dwight Howard both had their moments and the Lakers will need at least one or two of their role players to bop up in each game.
Defence is the Lakers’ backbone and LeBron will lead from the front against his old team. LA will largely do or die by his performances, as no one player has more impact on the game at both ends of the court or the capacity to improve their teammates. If he maintains that killer instinct we saw in Game 5 against the Nuggets, this could be a short series.
Miami can hurt you in so many ways and that’s been the fabric that they’ve built their winning culture around during this unexpected playoff run after finishing fifth in the East. Erik Spolestra’s system is first class and deserves much appraisal for their post-season success. They swept the Pacers in Round 1 before beating the Bucks in five games and the Celtics in six games.
Bam Adebayo was their MVP against the Boston, averaging 21.8 points, 11 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.7 steals and one block per game. He will find life harder getting guarded by Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard, but Adebayo’s capacity to find open teammates is one of his great strengths.
Goran Dragic has been massive for the Heat all playoffs, and when he, Duncan Robinson and Jae Crowder are knocking down three-pointers, this team is twice as dangerous. Andre Iguodala, featuring in his sixth-straight NBA Finals, will likely get the defensive assignment on LeBron.
The leadership of Jimmy Butler might be the key to Miami winning this series. Butler doesn’t necessarily have to dominate the stat sheet to impact a game in multiple ways. He averaged 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals against the Celtics, and even though his shot wasn’t dropping, always makes the right plays or finishes them.
Butler’s competitive spirit and leadership has been a major factor in helping drive this team to the Finals. The Heat need a big series from Jimmy Buckets in his first appearance on the NBA’s biggest stage to push the Lakers.
The Lakers went 2-0 against Miami during the regular season.
Tip: LA to win Game 1 @ $1.50.
