Okay. We’ve finally made it. It’s the NBA Finals in the Disneyworld Bubble.
The Lakers vs the Heat for the 2020 NBA Finals.
(PHOTO CREDIT: David Santiago/Miami Herald.)
It’s the NBA Finals. It’s the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat.
In my season preview, I had the Lakers winning 51 games and losing in the second round. Obviously, a lot changes over a course of the season, including apparently a global pandemic that has killed thousands in this awful country.
Either way, the season resumed in late July. The Lakers didn’t look great in the bubble (even though they still won the equivalent of 60 games overall in the shortened campaign) but they found a groove in the postseason and have gone 12-3 thus far. LeBron James can still dominate a game and Anthony Davis has showed that he can make the big shots. Now the Lakers are in their first NBA Finals since they last won the championship in 2010.
I can’t say that many people were astonished that the Lakers made it. But at the same time, a lot of doubts were there. The Clippers were looked at as the favorites for most of the season but then we all know what happened there. And the thing is… the supporting cast of the Lakers was much-maligned. But Frank Vogel (who, by the way, was NOT even their first choice as head coach) got his guys to play terrific defense. Even when Avery Bradley chose to sit out because of the pandemic, they were still stingy on that end (107.8 points allowed per 100 possessions, which is 5th out of 16 playoff teams).
Meanwhile, I’m going to call BS if you told me that the Miami Heat were going to make the NBA Finals before the season started. I’ll even admit that I thought they weren’t going to make the playoffs. I thought the acquisition of Jimmy Butler would make a volatile situation with Dion Waiters (ironically now on the Lakers) and James Johnson on the same team.
I just neglected to think that Butler was falling into HIS ideal situation. The Miami Heat is known for their disciplined approach and it was just perfect for Butler. They got off to a great start and it made me think around December that they might have a puncher’s chance of making the Finals.
But we thought that maybe the Heat weren’t going to be anything special during the regular season bubble games. They went 3-5 and finished as the 5th seed. The Pacers had leapfrogged over them while the Bucks, Raptors, and Celtics were in the Top 3.
Then the Heat suddenly looked like a battle-tested team on both ends. They swept the Pacers, shockingly ran over the Bucks, and then took care of the Celtics. The Heat are also 12-3 in the playoffs. It’s a testament to a coach who had been through the wars; Erik Spoelstra provided different game plans for each team they went against. He only proved that he is indeed a top coach in the league. A coach can’t do it without his players. Butler has become a big-game player on both ends. Goran Dragic is arguably playing the best ball of his career. Bam Adebayo has shown how much of a star he is. Tyler Herro has been a consistent scorer. Duncan Robinson is a deadeye shooter. Jae Crowder does the dirty work. While this roster is talented, none of them are mistaken as superstars like LeBron and Davis. No disrespect to the Heat players at all but not many saw them making the Finals. Probably not even the East Finals. Now they’re in the Finals for the first time in 6 years.
There are so many storylines to be had here. LeBron is in his 10th Finals appearance. Also, we all know LeBron won his first two championships with the Heat. The break-up wasn’t exactly clean between the two parties.
Andre Iguodala got traded to the Heat halfway through the season. Of course, it’s amazing that he’s making his 6th STRAIGHT NBA Finals appearance. Udonis Haslem is also making his 6th appearance in the Finals. All of them, of course, are with Miami.
Rajon Rondo and Anthony Davis have had good chemistry because they were with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018. Rondo is making his 3rd Finals appearance while Davis is making his first. JaVale McGee won two rings with the Warriors and now he’s back in the Finals for the third time in four years. Dwight Howard made the Finals in 2009 with the Orlando Magic. Ironically, he lost to the Lakers that season. Now he gets a second shot at a championship. J.R. Smith, who was with LeBron in all those Cavs Finals appearances, has now made 5 Finals appearances. Danny Green is making his second straight (he was with the Raptors last season) and fourth Finals overall. Quinn Cook is in his third straight Finals.
The Heat have some veterans that got close to sniffing the Finals. Solomon Hill was part of the Pacers team that went against the Heat in 2014. He was also Rondo and Davis’s teammate in New Orleans in 2018. Crowder was with the Celtics in 2017 when they went to the ECF. They lost against… LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Dragic was backing up Steve Nash in 2010 when they lost in the West Finals against… the Lakers.
Spoelstra is making his 5th Finals appearance as the Heat head coach. He made four straight Finals (2011-14) and won two championships with the Hollywood-as-hell Heat team including LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Vogel made two East Finals with the Pacers and lost both times against Spoelstra and the Heat. Overall, Spo has skunked Vogel in playoff match-ups, 3-0.
Oh… and Dion Waiters has a guaranteed championship ring if he wants it. He was initially a member of the Miami Heat before he was dealt to Memphis as part of the Iguodala trade. He was released by the Grizzlies before he got picked up by the Lakers.
So what about the basketball? Spoelstra will be very prepared. Even though the Lakers have shot a decent .355 from three in the postseason (which is actually just a hair under Miami’s percentage of .357), they’re not the most comfortable shooting perimeter shots. I’m gonna guess they’re going to try to get the Lakers to beat them from the outside.
The match-ups between the respective top two players is really interesting to me. Butler will do everything he could to get under LeBron’s skin. Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis is going to be such a great match-up. They’re both fantastic defensively. Bam plays more physical inside on the offensive end but Davis can step out to the perimeter. I really find that intriguing. I also think Crowder and Iguodala will take turns guarding LeBron.
The Lakers have the big men that will HURT you but the Heat have a scrappy bunch and would probably rather take the big guys out of the equation. Let’s see if Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tries to match Duncan Robinson on the perimeter. Kyle Kuzma might have to step it up on both ends for the bench since the Heat have a consistent scorer in Herro. It’ll be fun to see Alex Caruso chase the Heat perimeter waterbugs in Dragic, Robinson, and Herro. Will Howard and McGee play valuable minutes for the Lakers?
But I think we all know the obvious difference between these teams.
Spoelstra used to have LeBron. Now he’s going against him. LeBron James, on any given day, can still dominate the game. Even at the NBA old age of 35. There has been no evidence this season that LeBron James can be stopped.
Do the Heat have a chance? I dare not say they don’t. The Lakers are favorites, for sure, and history will say that the Heat winning would be one of the biggest upsets in NBA lore. But we’ve seen Miami take down the Bucks and the Celtics rather handily. So I’m not going to disrespect them by saying the Lakers will trample all over them.
It’s just that… well… they’re going against LeBron James. That’s enough for me.
PREDICTION: LAKERS IN 6.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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