Miami Heat – By Nick Zoll, contributor
Entering the 2020 NBA Playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat finds itself up against a gargantuan opponent: the Los Angeles Lakers.
Superstar guard Jimmy Butler will be an integral part of Miami’s attack, but due to their abundance of pure shooters and the ability to match up well against the top seed in the Western Conference, the Heat will take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy and emerge from the bubble as champions.
Besides Butler, the Heat have two notable players that should never be left unguarded: rookie guard Tyler Herro and forward Duncan Robinson.
Entering the Finals, Herro is averaging 16.5 points per game while shooting at a 37.8 percent clip from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Robinson has averaged 11.3 points per game during the playoffs, shooting 40 percent from three while notching three 20-plus point games in the process.
The Lakers, who boast two generational talents in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, have been able to exploit matchups in the previous three rounds. However, Bam Adebayo and Andre Iguodala have helped the Heat become the first opponent that can legitimately challenge Los Angeles on defense.
Standing at 6 feet, 9 inches tall, Adebayo can physically match up with Anthony Davis (6 feet, 10 inches). However, Adebayo is quickly developing into a top-tier defender, as evidenced by a top-five finish in the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award voting. Not many big men can lock up AD, but Adebayo is certainly one of the most likely candidates to do so.
So, what about LeBron?
As a member of the Golden State Warriors, Iguodala won Finals MVP against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 due in large part to his defense on LeBron, who shot under 40 percent in the series.
If the Lakers consistently play with bigger lineups, I can see them giving Miami a fair amount of trouble. The combination of AD and Dwight Howard in the paint simultaneously might be a bit too much for Adebayo and 6-foot-11-inch Kelly Olynyk, two of the Heat’s bigger bodies.
However, the presence of Herro and Robinson alongside Jimmy Butler and the defensive prowess of Adebayo and Iguodala will prove to be the Lakers’ kryptonite.
Los Angeles Lakers – By Mason Klemm, contributor
To virtually no one’s surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers have made the NBA Finals. The team had the best record in the Western Conference and has all the tools to win the championship.
The Lakers dominated during the regular season and the playoffs, scoring a whopping 113.9 points per game this postseason while shooting 49.8 percent from the field, the best in the league.
The duo of Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard has shown to be very effective in keeping big men in check, so the Heat’s Bam Adebayo will not have much room in the paint as he did in Miami’s previous series against Boston.
The Lakers are not a great 3-point shooting team, but the Heat aren’t either. Miami has some good shooters, but their 3-point percentage in the playoffs is only 0.2 percent better than Los Angeles. Both teams will have to rely on their inside game, where the Lakers have an advantage due to their size.
The inexperience of the Heat is obvious. Only two players on their roster have played in the NBA Finals before and eight players are in their first-ever postseason. On the flip side, Los Angeles boasts a team with 23 combined Finals appearances and six NBA championships.
Lastly, you can’t talk about the Lakers without mentioning LeBron James. Even in his 17th season, James is nearly putting up a triple-double on the stat line in both the regular season and postseason.
The biggest takeaway from these numbers is his improved passing, generating a career-high 10.2 assists per game in the regular season and 8.9 assists per game in the playoffs. If James somehow doesn’t score against the Heat, he’ll be sure to find someone who will. Whoever is guarding James will have a tough matchup on their hands.
Los Angeles has a roster that features one of the greatest players of all time, in addition to other star pieces. Using their veteran presence, the Lakers will extinguish the Heat.
