By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
LeBron James and Anthony Davis pulled-off monster performances to help the purple and gold go up 1 zip, 116-98, against the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The Heat offense torched LA early in the first quarter after Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder went unconscious from the field, draining most of their attempts to help their squad take the lead, 23-10 with 5:36 remaining.
However, as soon as Miami went small with Crowder and Andre Iguodala manning up the interior, Anthony Davis and the Lakers exploded to a 19-3 run to close the first quarter and regained the lead, 31-28.
From that point, Miami would only get to enjoy the lead one more time before the Lakers unleashed a scoring barrage led by their hot shooting from three.
The Lakers recorded 11 three-pointers on 17 attempts to end the first half with a 17-point lead, 65-48.
The Lakers’ size proved to be too much for Miami as James bullied his way in the post area for easy outlet passes while Davis feasted on the interior for dunks and layups.
Davis poured in 34 huge points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while James’ all-around performance resulted in a near triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Adding injury to insult was the loss of Goran Dragiz and Bam Adebayo who both exited the game after suffering separate injuries, with Dragic diagnosed with a torn left plantar fascia and Adebayo suffering a mild shoulder injury.
With the odds heavily going against Miami, many have feared that the series may result in a sweep.