The Miami Heat set the fire early in their match against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals but they ran out oxygen to sustain their firepower ending up on the losing end in their first face-off with the LeBron James-led Lakers.
"Lakeshow Duo" James and Anthony Davis made their presence felt in all aspects as Davis led the game in points after dropping 34 points. Meanwhile, the King posted an assist-shy triple-double performance with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists to overpower the raging Heat from the East.
The Heat sparked to put up an early 12-point lead in the opening quarter, forcing the Lakers to take the shots on the perimeter and beyond the arc. But instead of making the shots difficult for the Lakers, the purple and gold dropped every long bomb that they launched, making a late run in the first quarter, 31-28.
Despite the efforts of Tyler Herro in the second quarter, who also finished the game with 14 points 3 assists, and 4 rebounds, the Lakers continued their hot shooting, especially beyond the arc. They set the most triples in the playoff's history for the franchise with 11 triples even with 3 minutes left still in the second quarter, ESPN reported.
The domination of the purple and gold squad continued as they finish the first half strong ending it with a 17-point lead, 65-48.
The Lakers are not just over yet as LeBron James opened the third frame with his second triple in the game and followed by a triple also by Danny Green.
With 6 minutes left in the third period, Heat Big man Bam Adebayo showed serious discomfort after hitting the floor with his shoulder following the move he forced in front of Dwight Howard.
Despite they outnumber the Miami Heat, the Lakers just continued to rack up points with Anthony Davis dropping his shots in all parts of the floor with LeBron James and Rajon steadily orchestrated the 75-30 run that they have established since the first half.
The Heat tried to push the game down to a single-digit courtesy of Tyler Herro. Jimmy Butler who despite tweaking his left foot still managed to put 23 points two rebounds, and five assists, and Kendrick Nunn who tallied 18 points, two assists, and five rebounds.
But the King did not let that happen and sealed the game with back to back baskets extending the lead back to 17 points and secure the game 1 of the NBA Finals, 116-98.
According to NBC News, the Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic was not able to do damage in his first game in the NBA Finals after suffering a plantar tear in the left foot and according to the reports, he will be re-evaluated but not yet ruled out in returning to the Finals' series.
During the interview, Jimmy Butler shared that it has been that way all year long, whenever they start to miss some shots, they do not do whatever is needed on the end but he stated that they will bounce back after the game 1 loss.
On the other hand, despite the dominating performance and mismatched that they exposed, LeBron James still reminded his squad that the series is far from over and they need to get the job done.
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