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Image: AP, AFP, USA TODAY Sports – Illustration by Scanpix / BasketNews.lt
AP Photo, AFP, USA TODAY Sports – Illustration by Scanpix / BasketNews.lt
More than 11 months in 2019-2020. The National Basketball Association (NBA) season has come to a close.
Already on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat teams will enter the unprecedented NBA Finals series in the closed bubble of Orlando.
The BasketNews.lt website provides an overview of the upcoming NBA Finals and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of both teams.
The best players against the best team
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are arguably the best basketball players in the series, and the Heat simply don’t have at least one star of this level. However, the Heat have what the Lakers can’t boast of: a very smart and deep team.
Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo and Tayler look much better in this year’s playoffs than the Lakers’ assistant basketball players. Andre Iguodala, a veteran rising from a bench, also makes a solid contribution.
This year’s Lord’s playoffs feature the basketball player with the most scorers (257). The Lakers closest to him is Kyle Kuzma, who scores 158 points.
However, Kuzma never scored 20 points in 15 games, when Herro crossed the line three times and scored a double-digit point total in all games played.
Such a versatile lineup allows Erik Spoelstra to have at least some leaders. In one match the team is dragged by Adebayo, in others: Dragičius, Butler or the aforementioned Herro.
Still, the James-Davis duo are so dominant this year that no one has caused any major problems for them and there has been no talk of the lack of input from the reserve players. Especially since Alex Caruso or Danny Green are also good perimeter defenders who will create problems for Heat basketball players.
How will the Heat defend themselves?
This is the big question of the series. The Heat are the best defensive team the Lakers will face in this year’s playoffs, but the Los Angeles team still has its advantages.
In terms of personal defense, the Heat have enough capable basketball players to stop James: Butler, Iguodala, Jae Crowder or Adebayo, but there is no question that the latter will take over for Davis.
However, LeBron has been famous for years for his ability to create pairing against the defenders of the weaker opponents and in this case the eyes immediately turn to Duncan Robinson and Herro. Both Robinson and Lord do not have physical data equal to those of James, who also has 17 times more experience; This is the debut season for the Heat newcomers. Even a one-on-one match with Dragic doesn’t sound like the worst option for LeBron.
We can remember the series with the Milwaukee Bucks, when the Heat built a wall for 2-3 people at the entrance to the penalty area and thus successfully neutralized regular season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Photo AP-Scanpix
Still, unlike Antetokounmpo, James has in his arsenal a better view of the field and a much more solid shot from distance.
In the series with the Celtics, the now famous Heat zone defense shone. This would prevent trades against James, but in that case another problem opens: Davis.
The zone against the Celtics worked because Daniel Theis is far from being a big problem for the defending team. Still, Zone 2-3, used by the Heat, opens a hole between the three-point line and the penalty area that Davis could successfully exploit.
With this defense against the Celtics, Miami basketball players have struggled to get the ball back, and against a taller Lakers team, the problem can become even more pronounced.
How will the Lakers defend themselves?
Frank Vogel will also have his own puzzles on defense. Probably the Lakers quarterback’s biggest headache should be the Heat’s 3s.
The Heat averaged 13.3 triples in the playoffs, and that number was almost always enough to win. The only exception was a game with the Milwaukee Bucks, in which the Heat made 17 long shots and still hit 115: 118. At that point, in Game 3 of the series with the Celtics, the Florida team scored 12 triples. , and in the fifth, only 7.
Robinson, Herro and Dragic are the main candidates who can punish from afar, but Iguodala and Crowder cannot be given space either. Even Jimmy Butler, who attacked from distance in the regular season by 24 percent. Accurately, he doesn’t abuse 3s in this year’s playoffs, but he sells them at 37 percent.
One can immediately remember the Lakers’ series with the Houston Rockets, in which the Los Angeles team successfully adapted and neutralized the Texas team’s 3-pointers.
The Lakers made it very simple by lengthening their attacks, slowing the pace of the game, and making room for the Rockets’ worst pitcher, Russell Westbrook, who was constantly teased to hit a long triple or double, and James Harden’s defense was confident. Davis.
Still, unlike the Rockets, the Heat don’t force long shots and create favorable opportunities. The Miami team is also willing to face situations in which it can score two points. For example, the incursions of Butler or Dragičius towards the basket and the work of Adebay in the penalty area and its accesses.
If Caruso, Green and Kuzma still fail to punish their opponents with their 3s, the Heat could gain a significant advantage. It is precisely because of the threat of long shots that the double-digit deficit no longer matters so much, since 2-3 triples like the mat return the team behind to the game.
The Heat are the best example of this: In the first game with the Celtics, Miami basketball players were 14 points deficit in the fourth quarter and 17 points deficit in the second, but they still won both games.
The importance of good defense was previously emphasized by Lakers quarterback Vogel.
“He is a powerful weapon in the playoffs. So powerful that it can amount to having a superstar. If he has an elite defense, he can become the third star of the team, “said a specialist after the fourth game of the series with the Rockets.
So one can expect a long series, maybe even seven chess games, which will be largely determined by the game plan prepared by the coaches of both teams. Still, looking at how James determined Game 5 of the series with the Denver Nuggets, for the moment at least, the Lakers want to give the Lakers a slight edge.
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