The Los Angeles Lakers headed into Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals as huge favorites against the Miami Heat. It’s not necessarily that much of a surprise given just how dominant Los Angeles was during the regular season and Miami’s status as a true Cinderella.
Game 1 started out well enough for head coach Erik Spoelstra and Co. Miami held a 25-12 lead with under four minutes remaining in the first quarter. To say it was completely downhill from there would be an understatement.
Showing themselves to clearly be the superior team, the Lakers dominated from that point on.
When all was said and done, LeBron James’ squad came out on top by the score of 116-98. It was an absolutely dominant performance from a Lakers squad looking to win its first title in a decade.
James dropped 25 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out nine assists. However, it was Anthony Davis who stole the show. He notched 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Davis was tremendous throughout the evening.
To add injury to insult (literally) Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler suffered injuries in the game. What could go wrong for the Heat in Game 1, went wrong.
While Jimmy Butler did return to the game after suffering a sprained ankle, both Bam and Dragic were sidelined for the duration. It remains to be seen whether either one will be able to go for Game 2 from Walt Disney World on Friday evening.
Even at full strength, these Heat were a long shot to compete with the Lakers. Now that Miami is dealing with a plethora of injuries, that’s magnified even further.
It’s in this that we take a look at the top reactions from Los Angeles’ blowout 18-point win over the Heat in Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals Wednesday evening.