Getty Los Angeles Lakers guard LeBron James.
The Los Angeles Lakers currently hold a 2-0 lead on the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals.
The Lakers have played good basketball behind the stellar play of their All-Star cast of Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Game 3 is tonight in the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Before Game 1 of the Finals, I sat down with Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show and he weighed in on the series.
“Lakers in five,” Broussard told me.
“I thought about it going seven, but I’ll give you some of the reasons. Look, the Heat — obviously they play as hard as anybody; they’re tenacious, they’re tough, they’re well coached… and I thought, you know what? Bam Adebayo is not going to stop Anthony Davis but, you know, can guard him as well as he can be guarded. Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder; Andre Iguodala… is not going to stop LeBron, but probably guard him well as he can be guarded. The Heat can shoot it; Erik Spoelstra obviously knows LeBron well — and can maybe come up with — look, he came up with against Milwaukee with a defense with a wall in the paint to stop Giannis or to slow him down; against Boston he came up with a zone defense that slowed them down… maybe he can come up with something; but then I said you know what?… No. The Lakers are so far superior talent-wise, experience-wise and LeBron is on such a mission — I mean, we’ve all heard the stories of the bubble and it’s been clear that LeBron hasn’t really been all that happy in the bubble. He’s there for one reason: to win that championship. And now it’s right there within his grasp. And if they… look, the Miami Heat CANNOT beat the Lakers — in a series. I mean they can win a game or two but they cannot beat the Lakers in a series.”
Pretty spot on!
Guided by head coach, Frank Vogel, the Lakers finished in first place in the NBA’s Western Conference standings with a 52-19 record behind the play of James and Davis.
The Lakers have a good supporting cast that includes Dwight Howard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Danny Green and Alex Caruso.
GettyAnthony Davis, left, and LeBron James, right, of the Lakers
The star of the show, LeBron James was a runner up in the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award race. The Akron, Ohio native averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists in the NBA’s regular season.
Lakers big man, Anthony Davis averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game for the purple and gold.
The Lakers have to finish what they started though. “The Lakers would have to beat themselves to lose this series,” Broussard tells Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“And so, I think with all that and then the personal connection to Miami; the tension there was with LeBron and Pat Riley when he left there defacted that someone that said it was Pat Riley — I don’t know exactly who it was but, that someone told LeBron when he left that “he was making the biggest mistake of his career…” Like, LeBron…. I would be SHOCKED if he loses this series. I mean, I would be floored beyond belief because — I wouldn’t be floored if Miami makes it a tough series even though I’m saying five [games], but I would be floored if they won it because it would be one of the BIGGEST upsets in NBA Finals history.”