Game 1 of the NBA Finals is history but Miami is so well-coached by Erik Spoelstra that they are very capable of an upset. Major adjustments will be made and they won’t get themselves beaten again by 18 points today. I hope Goran Dragić and Bam Adebayo recover because it won’t be fair to the Heat to surrender the title undermanned.
We haven’t seen Duncan Robinson play but he could be in the rotation this time and explode. Undrafted in 2018, he broke the Heat’s single-season record for 3s made with 270 in a corona-shortened season. He just set a franchise record of seven 3s made in a quarter and eight in a half and likewise tied the team record with 10 3s made in a game.
Three Laker players are on the league’s list of career playoff 3-point baskets made. LeBron James sits at number 2 on the list with 399 shots made. JR Smith is at 9th with 293 and Danny Green at 15th with 258 3-point baskets made. Green, like Lebron, is aiming for his third championship with his third team. He won a title with San Antonio in 2014 and last year with Toronto.
Three wins stand against Rajon Rondo to make history. Twenty six players have played for both the Lakers and the Boston Celtics but no one has yet won a title with both franchises. If the Lakers win their 17th and tie the Celtics, Rondo will have that distinction as he had won one while in green in 2008.
Three-time NBA champion and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala is on his 6th consecutive trip to the Finals. He’s facing a familiar adversary in LeBron, who from 2015 to 2018 fought in four straight finals, playing for the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 36-year-old Iguodala is one of nine NBA players, including LeBron, to have played in at least six straight championships.
Miami old-timer Udonis Haslem is 40 years old but he’s still on the Heat’s roster. He spends most of his time on the bench but he’s the main component to the team’s chemistry. In his 17th season with the franchise, Haslem also is a 3-time champion, winning the titles with the Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013. He’s the team’s all-time leader in rebounds and second to Dwayne Wade in minutes played.
Pat Riley brought LeBron to Miami and is mainly the brains behind their three championships. He’s going against the Lakers, the same team he handled during the Showtime era with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and company, winning four titles and three other trips to the Finals.
LeBron is chasing a Laker legacy, Miami is targeting an upset. It’s going to be a long and interesting series and like I said before, could go the seven game distance./PN
