Looking at Miami Heat‘s performance so far in the Finals, LA Lakers can easily sweep them 4-0. This could be the most mismatched finals matchup we’ve seen in years. LA Lakers took a 2-0 lead last night with a 114-124 blow out victory. Miami Heat did not just lose Game 1 on Tuesday night but the entire series with Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo suffering serious injuries.
Miami Heat as it is had a tough task in its hands competing against the title favorites LA Lakers. Their odd were small to behind with, however, Dragic being ruled out of the Finals takes the figure to all-time lows. With a torn plantar fascia, Miami Heat lost their floor general and an excellent offensive weapon. Dragic improved his performance in the playoffs so much so that there was a direct correlation between his efficiency and Miami’s win percentage.
In addition, Bam Adebayo’s collision with Anthony Davis left him struggling with pain on the floor. He left Game 1 in the third quarter with a sprained left shoulder. However, Heat fans can take a sigh of relief because Bam Adebayo is cleared for Game 3 against the LA Lakers. LA Lakers took the lead in the first quarter of Game 1 and Miami has been trailing ever since. Instead of getting our hopes high, we need to question how much of a difference can Bam Adebayo make at this point.
Bam Adebayo is set to return for Game 3. đź‘€ https://t.co/Um4KAfdnB0 pic.twitter.com/XBDhVp89w5
— theScore (@theScore) October 3, 2020
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Can Bam Adebayo make a difference at this point?
Even without any injuries, this series had to go 7 games for Miami Heat to have a chance against this Lakers team. In year 17 LeBron James is as good as the dreaded ‘headband James’, recording triple-doubles night after night. Anthony Davis is the offensive beast who capable of scoring on anyone in Miami Heat. To everyone’s surprise, Rajon Rondo is playing like his Boston Celtics days making plays for his teammates and contesting difficult shots.
Despite poor performance by Danny Green and Kyle Kuzma, the Lakers look locked in to sweep the Miami Heat given their precarious situation at the moment.
Heat did its job to contain the Lakers, restricting them to a mere 28% in the paint. They ranked no.1 in restricted area points till now playoffs. However, the Lakers still had the third most efficient Finals performance of the last 24 years. This just goes not to prove that Bam Adebayo’s return makes little to no difference to Miami’s condition at this point.
Clogging the paint opened up many open 3s for the LA Lakers and they took advantage of each every one of them in Game 2. Although not clogging the paint would translate into easy buckets for Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James.
If not for Goran Dragic’s injury, Miami Heat had a real chance vs the LA Lakers.
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