What Miami Heat have to do to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals
By Max Marshall
With the Miami Heat set to tip off the NBA Finals, what do they have to do to win? Here are a few things that might help.
Well Miami Heat fans, we are finally here, back in the NBA finals. What a ride it has been inside the bubble, to finally get to this point of making it to the Finals and all the way down from a fifth seed.
Now, this Miami team has been looked passed the whole year and was even looked passed in the bubble as well. Miami beat one of the NBA title Favorites in the Milwaukee Bucks, before then handling another contender in the Boston Celtics.
Even with those accomplishments, the national media still haven’t seemed to give Miami any credit. It has always been about how the other teams lost the games instead of why the Miami Heat won them.
It’s going to be like that if Miami beats Los Angeles as well, I’m just here to tell you. But, I am also going to tell you how Miami can pull off another upset if you even want to call it that.
What Miami has to do is somehow not allow LeBron James fast-break points. I know that is easier said than done but you can not allow things like live-ball turnovers because when you do, James will score every time.
To add on to having to stop James in the open court, I expect Miami to form a wall with James and Anthony Davis as they did to Giannis Antetokounmpo. James will get his baskets but giving him easy transition points wont make it any easier for Miami.
Stopping Anthony Davis won’t be an easy task either as he can create his own shot and when attacking the basket, he can be especially hard to stop. My guess is that Miami will throw Jae Crowder on Davis and I know that seems like a bad idea but anytime Davis is posting up Crowder or anyone besides Adebayo, Miami needs to throw another defender at him.
Surprisingly, Davis is not the best passer from the double team scenario, so if you can get the ball out of his hands, potentially cause a turnover, or force a shooter to make a tough shot. If the Los Angeles Lakers’ shooters beat you, then you just have to take it on the chin.
The Miami Heat have a tough series ahead of them. Here is what they have to do to win the NBA Finals.
Los Angeles doesn’t have any deadeye shooters, so if you are Miami, anytime James or Davis attacks on either side of the rim a defender should be leaving their assignment to help on the attack.
For example, Alex Caruso is 7-24 on catch and shoot threes, Kyle Kuzma was shooting 29% from three last series, and Danny Green (though known as a Miami Heat killer) has shot 32% from three. Green has always been a spotty shooter at times and the same with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, although he has been shooting better inside the bubble.
The same goes for Rajon Rondo, who has also shot it well from three at 44%, but I don’t expect him to be shooting at that level for the remainder of the playoffs. He traditionally never has but if he does then you live with that as well.
To me, something that has been going under the radar is how big Los Angeles’ front-court is. Miami is going to have to rebound well and especially on the defensive glass, as they cant let James and Davis get more chances. This is especially when Miami goes small.
Another thing that Miami has to do is make Davis shoot it from the outside. Now I know Davis can shoot and knock down threes, while he also has a very good midrange jump shot, but its better for him to fall in love with the jumper than for him to attack the rim for easy baskets. That could also help get the Miami Heat into foul trouble.
When thinking about Anthony Davis, it’s exponentially better for Miami to have him shoot out there rather than on the attack. Especially if it saves Bam Adebayo in foul trouble, plus, you have to give up something. Why not let it be that.
This series will be won because of the winning team’s stars but to me, the role players are the key to the series. Los Angeles is more top-heavy in talent but Miami is deeper and with better shooting.
Miami will have the coaching advantage with head coach Erik Spoelstra. I also would like to enter this question into evidence.
Who knows James’ game better than Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra? With James putting in the work, Spoelsta helped him to unlock his postgame and his game further as a whole.
LeBron James would have dominated in the 90’s too. dark. Next
With certain intricate details at his disposal, I am confident with the Spoelstra game plan on both sides of the ball. That is what I think the Miami Heat will have to get done in order to win this series.
That’s also why I am taking the Miami Heat in six games.