NBA FINALS GAME 1: Lakers take the Heat

The first game of the finals conference has been set for Wednesday, September 30th,2020. The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat are battling for the championship. The first game is being played with high bets and anticipation of who is going to kick off the series strong. Though fans are not there physically, there were plenty of NBA stars and celebrities in the virtual crowd for the first game. NBA legends like Kareem Abdul Jabar, Shaq, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Garnett, Reporter/ anchor Robin Roberts, and even our forever President Barack Obama.

The Heat began to light the fire with a 10-0 Run in the first quarter and the Lakers answered back with a 25-3 run second. Lakers star Danny Green set the bar high shooting 3 consecutive 3 pointers in the first. The Lakers continued the league in the second never letting off the gas creating a double-digit deficit early on. By the 3rd quarter, there was a 26 point lead the Lakers had sustained.

By the start of the third quarter, the Lakers were 10-10 at the free-throw line. 22 Points by the 3rd quarter for Anthony Davis and 4-4 at the free-throw line. Every Laker seemed to be carrying their weight as star player Lebron James started off only 2-6 in shots and 1-2 In free throws. The slow start does not even begin to characterize how well Lebron has been playing. Lebron has been achieving milestones in the playoffs ranks being the top 5 in multiple categories. Lebron also passes Klay Thompson for 2nd all-time in the NBAFinals for 3s.

On top of a point deficit, the Heat didn’t have much luck in keeping injuries down for the night. Goran Dragic excited he game with a plantar tear in the foot and did not return. Jimmy Butler was seen limping a few times but still continues to play. Adebayo also took a bad fall, landed on his shoulder after a collision with Howard. Shortly after, as he was going up for a rebound against Lebron, he was seen grabbing his wrist In pain and was sent back to the locker room. By the fourth quarter, the Heat had to sit out Adebayo, Butler, and Dragic.

With 4 minutes left in third, the score was 61-89, Lakers leading. Howard has 8 rebounds and some assist that helped the Lakers defense crushing the Heats momentum. The confidence of the Heat was challenged as they took multiple timeouts taking strategy to try to stop the Laker’s path from winning game 1. The Heat did have a slight moment in the fourth within the first 8 minutes having a 14-0 run; bringing the lead of 30 to 22.  By the last 5 minutes the game, this was stamped as a Laker win by the assist from Tajan Rondo that sent Anthony Davis to the free-throw line who has a perfect percentage for the night. Miami did step on the gas pedal in the last minutes with Tyler Herro getting a few good plays like the and one on Caruso or the 2 fast break possessions to ease the Laker lead down more. Overall,  the Lakers blew the flames of the Heat and took the Win for game one with a score of 116-98.