2020 NBA Finals -- Lakers run away with Game 1
By Ricardo Carbajal
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 01 Oct 2020
LOS ANGELES -- Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals turned out to be a cakewalk, not a competition, for the mighty Los Angeles Lakers.
In his first Finals appearance in his young eight-year NBA career, Anthony Davis sparkled with 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks. LeBron James added 25 points, 13 boards and nine dimes and the Lakers coasted to a one-sided 116-98 triumph.
After trailing 25-12 at the 4:21 mark of the opening quarter, the Lakers went on a sizzling 53-23 run to take a 17-point lead at halftime. The Heat never recovered from the onslaught inside the Orlando bubble at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Besides their two superstars, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 13 points for L.A. while veteran Danny Green, who has won championships with the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, chipped in 11 on the strength of three triples.
"They smacked us in the mouth and we got a sense of that. From that moment when it was 23-10, we played to our capabilties," LeBron, this season's MVP runner-up, told the Associated Press.
In gunning for its 17th title in franchise history, the Lakers sure did turn the engines on.
They shot 45.2 percent from the field (38-of-84) and 39.5 percent from 3-point range (15-of-38). They also outrebounded Miami, 54-36, and had more assists, 26-23.
Miami, meanwhile, couldn't find that range that got them in this stage, missing 51 of 89 field goals (42.7 percent) and making only 11 of 35 treys (31.4 percent).
Despite spraining his ankle badly in the second quarter, Jimmy Butler stayed in the contest and finished with 23 points to lead the Heat. Compounding Miami's woes were the injuries sustained to starters Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who both left Game 1 and didn't return to action.
Game 2 is Friday night.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ricardo Carbajal.
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