Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. The NBA Finals is here!
The Heat made it into a grind but the Lakers still hit the big shots to win Game 4.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Mark J. Terrill/AP)
The Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from winning the 2020 NBA Championship.
But after Game 3, we knew that the Miami Heat have become serious. While Goran Dragic couldn’t play, the Heat did get Bam Adebayo back.
The Heat slowed the game down and did their best to rattle the Lakers physically. The problem was that the Heat themselves couldn’t get hot offensively. Miami was always great at closing out games when the margin got narrow but this time, the Lakers had a counter every time the game got precarious.
Seemingly every time it became a one-point lead for the Lakers, something like a Kyle Kuzma three would bring it back up. Or when it was 71-70, Anthony Davis would make free throws.
Finally, it was 90-88 when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made five straight important points. Jae Crowder would cut the deficit to four with a three but Rajon Rondo made a lay-up afterwards. And then Davis, who had been doing this all postseason, made a three-pointer to pretty much put it out of reach.
The problem with the Heat was that they needed a spectacular performance from somebody (that somebody is usually Jimmy Butler). Butler had another outstanding game with 22-10-9 but it wasn’t enough. LeBron James went for 28-12-8 while Davis was awake with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
As mentioned, Dragic tried to give it a go before the game but was ruled out. He could be back for Game 5 and Heat need all the offensive options they can muster. The Lakers know they’re in a battle but, at least, they now have the 3-1 advantage.
Now Miami has to play three A+++ games in a row to win the series. Yeah, you try to get 101 percent in three straight Calculus tests.
Bullet Passes
Jimmy Butler talked about rebounding. The Lakers had their narrowest margin at +3. So the Heat have gotten better at that.
However, the Lakers have beaten them in three-point shooting. L.A. made 14 threes, including that clutch Davis three. The Heat will let them shoot those. The problem is that the Heat themselves aren’t matching the Lakers in them (11/32 for .344) when that’s supposed to be their strength.
Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 7 boards. Good for coming off an injury but, again, not nearly enough to beat the Lakers.
A Lakers win on Friday would give the franchise 17 NBA championships. That would tie the Celtics for the most in history.
NBA Finals Scoreboard
Game 4: #1 LAL 102 vs #5 MIA 96 (LAL leads series, 3-1)
Watch This Play
LeBron just removes Tyler Herro off the paint and slams it.
FLIP THE CHANNEL TO THE NBA FINALS ON ABC NOW! 📺🍿
LeBron James with the steal and POWERFUL SLAM for the @Lakers! 😤#NBAFinals presented by YouTube TV pic.twitter.com/TkMBr15shG
— NBA (@NBA) October 7, 2020
The two teams will get two days off before resuming festivities on Friday. By then, we could have new NBA champions. Or are we going to have a Game 6 on Sunday?
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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