- The team from Los Angeles defeated Miami Heat in Game 2 of the finals, 124-114.
- LeBron James and Anthony Davis scored 65 points combined.
- Miami played without Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo.
- Tyler Herro became the youngest player to start the NBA Finals.
Lakers Confident in Game 2
Frank Vogel’s guys didn’t miss a chance to beat the struggling Miami Heat in the second match of the NBA Finals. The Eastern Conference champions were without two players from the starting lineup, Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo, which happened to be a deficit they couldn’t cover.
Meanwhile, the Lakers exploited all the benefits from such a situation, especially Anthony Davis, who ended the night with 32 points, shooting from the field, 15-for-20. Davis also added 14 boards, eight of them offensive, and was dominating on both ends of the floor.
“I expect him to get 50 every night,” Rajon Rondo stated about AD. “He’s damn near playing like the best player in the game. Hands down.”
LeBron was in an all-around mood tonight with 33 buckets and nine rebounds and assists each, picking up where Davis left on each occasion.
Lakers were aggressive right from the start, and the Heat responded in the same way, but near the end of the opening 12 minutes, the LAL started pulling away. The first big lead for the purple and gold came after Danny Green’s three just under three minutes into the second quarter, 40-27.
Miami bounced back but temporarily because the Lakers kept coming after them, and they went to the halftime with a 14-point advantage. The same continued after the break, with the purple and gold reaching the highest lead of the game during the middle of the same, 84-68.
After this, it was all a routine for Davis and his teammates.
Rondo had a double-double coming off the bench with 16 points and 10 assists, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma scored 11 each.
Shorthanded Heat
Without Dragic, who is the brain of the entire team, and Adebayo, who is the only one able of handling the Lakers inside the paint, Miami’s prospects in this one were slim.
Jimmy Butler and Kelly Olynyk tried to make something out of tonight’s match, but they failed in that attempt. Butler had 25 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds, while on the other side, Olynyk added 24 buckets and 9 boards.
“Maybe we’ve just got to play a lot harder, to know that’s how we’re going to squeak out a win in the end,” Butler said. “There really isn’t too much to say to our guys. We understand what we have to do.”
Tyler Herro added 17 points with seven rebounds for the Heat in a match that saw him becoming the youngest ever starter in the NBA Finals, 20 years and 256 days. He beat Magic Johnson’s previous record for eight days. These two guys are the only ones younger than 21 to start the finals.
Kendrick Nunn had 13 points, and Duncan Robinson 9.
Game 3 of the series takes place this Sunday at 7:30 pm ET.
