Shorthanded Heat can’t contain LeBron, Anthony Davis, fall into 2-0 hole in NBA Finals
The undermanned, underdog Miami Heat found at least something of a formula to stay competitive with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Finals.
The Heat played zone on defense and slow on offense.
It enticed the Lakers to settle for three-pointers, while Miami — Jimmy Butler mostly — deliberately searched for efficient shots.
With 3:49 left in the first half, the Heat was down four points and well within striking distance of LeBron James and Los Angeles.
This style was going to take a nearly perfect effort, though, and three minutes worth of lapses was all the Lakers needed to trigger another blowout in Lake Buena Vista. In those three minutes, Miami’s deficit swelled from four to 17 and Los Angeles was headed to a 124-114 win to take a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
Anthony Davis scored 32 points on 15-of-20 shooting, LeBron James added 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Heat, missing two starters because of injury, was overwhelmed by the Lakers’ size and talent.
In the nearly 48 hours following Miami’s blowout loss in Game 1, Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo did everything they could to try to be ready for Game 2.
Dragic, the Heat’s leading scorer throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, focused on pain management — the only short-term solution for the torn plantar fascia in his left foot. Adebayo tried to accelerate the recovery of his strained neck —the injury that finally would knock the All-Star post player off the court after he played through a left shoulder injury in the NBA Conference Finals.
They both wanted to play Friday, but Erik Spoelstra played the role of “parent,” he said, and held them out, even with Miami already trailing in the championship series.
“They were both lobbying to play and we ultimately had to take the decision out of their hands for tonight,” the coach said. “They are warriors and are continuing to try to lobby, but they just need rest, recovery and treatment, and that’s the only course of action right now.”
It meant the starting lineup changed for the first time in the playoffs.
With Dragic out, rookie wing Tyler Herro became the youngest player in history to start a Finals game. With Adebayo out, post player Meyers Leonard, who started 49 games in the regular season, took over as the starting center after playing all of nine minutes in the postseason.
The Heat was missing two of its three best players, so a massive burden fell upon Butler. On offense, the All-Star wing delivered with 25 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds. On defense, Miami struggled without Adebayo, a second-team selection to the NBA All-Defensive Team this year, and Los Angeles shot 51.0 percent from the field, made 16 threes and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
It was the 19-6 run for the Lakers that ultimately kept the Heat at bay, turning a 49-45 lead for Los Angeles into a 68-51 edge. While James and Davis dominated throughout the night, this was a run fueled by the Lakers’ role players. Post player Markieff Morris started with a three. Combo guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit another and scored four points. Forward Kyle Kuzma hit three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt.
Rajon Rondo commanded it all, scoring four points and handing out three assists. He assisted on Morris’ three, threw an and-one alley-oop to James and followed with a full-court alley-oop pass to Davis for another and-one.
The Los Angeles point guard finished off the run with four straight points, crossing up Herro in the paint for the final two. The Lakers went into halftime with a 68-54 lead on 55.5-percent shooting.
The Heat answered with 39 points in the third quarter and cut the lead as close as nine multiple times in the second half, but never had a final push.
With two starters’ status still in question, Miami’s season could be down to its final two games.
“To put it in the most simple way possible: Who cares?” Butler told ESPN. “We’re still expected to win.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 11:35 PM.
