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The Miami Heat were up 23-10 over the Los Angeles Lakers midway through the first quarter in Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals when Los Angeles head coach Frank Vogel was forced to call a timeout. Vogel altered his lineup, knocking LeBron James and Dwight Howard off the court, inserting Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma into the lineup, and sliding Anthony Davis to center with 5:36 left in the opening period.
When the first quarter ended, the Lakers held a lead that would eventually turn into a big win, 116-98, to put them within three wins of a championship. It was such a compelling evisceration that it’s hard to remember there was ever a time when Miami seemed like the team in control.
The opposing advantages usually only get bigger when LeBron goes to the bench, but these Lakers have the luxury of a Plan 1B that is more powerful than anyone else in the league – put Davis in the middle, splash the perimeter with shooters and defenders. physicals, and let AD serve as a wrecking ball at both ends of the court. It’s a problem with no apparent solution for the Heat, and the calculation of these Finals changes.
Davis’ final numbers were magnificent, but within the sphere that we expect of him: 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks on a shocking 66.9 true shooting percentage. It was the kind of performance the basketball world always knew Davis was capable of on the biggest stages, but one that took eight seasons and a move to Los Angeles for it to finally happen.
Davis is simply too big, too fast, too skilled and too disciplined, not just for Miami but for the entire league. Whether in transition or on a spaced floor in the midfield, Davis approaches the basket and has the agility and touch to shoot from any angle. Now he has fully added the 3-point shot to his arsenal, with more 3s (72) this season than at any other time in his career. And while Davis’ lack of rebounding has been a topic of conversation throughout this postseason, there are still few better ones to close out the pick-and-roll. Try to burn it up to the cup and Davis has the quickness to take down just about any ball handler. Try to shoot at it and that nearly 7.66 wingspan is there to meet you at the launch point. Davis also deserves credit for his tact on the game, knowing how to perfectly position himself to guard the rim and guard against the mid-range, while staying away from any false balls.
We’ve seen the full AD scoring package update throughout these playoffs. Through 16 games in the postseason, Davis is averaging 29.1 points per game with an actual shooting percentage of 66.4. That level of scoring efficiency would have been in the league’s top 15 during the regular season – Davis’ postseason use alone (29.2 percent) is nearly double that of anyone else on the list.
What makes Davis so deadly is that he remains unstoppable both at the rim and on long two-point field shots. On shooting between 16 feet and the 3-point line, Davis is shooting a ridiculous 56.9 percent in the playoffs, down from the still impressive 41.2 percent in the regular season. At the rim, all Davis is doing in the postseason is shooting 82.3 percent (he was 75.8 percent in the regular season). When the game slows down in the middle of the court, Davis can hit the shots that the opposing defense wants to concede while at the same time mastering the shots the Lakers want to hit.
It’s no secret that Davis is perhaps the greatest big man of his generation. It’s been a prophecy for a long time, when a late growth spurt in high school helped him emerge out of nowhere to become America’s number one recruit. John Calipari drafted Davis to Kentucky, where he led the team to a 38-2 record and a national championship, earning national player of the year honors as a freshman despite finishing No. 7 on his own team in use. . From there, Davis was the first overall pick in the NBA draft and was selected for Team USA at the Olympics before playing a professional game. When he came to New Orleans, first the Hornets and then the Pelicans, he more or less lived up to all expectations.
There was just one problem: the Pelicans were never able to put the right pieces around them. Amid myopic exchanges and struggles to keep Davis and his teammates healthy, New Orleans never won more than 48 games and passed the first round of the playoffs only once. The reality is that Davis was never going to have the moment he now enjoys in New Orleans. He had to take control of his own destiny.
Davis was routinely criticized for the way he left the Pelicans, requesting a trade with 1.5 seasons remaining on his contract and effectively limiting his market by declaring his desire to play for the Lakers. No less authoritative than Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the situation “bad for the league.”
I’m talking more about Anthony Davis situation. Where a guy is perfectly healthy and has a couple years left on his contract and says, ‘I want to go. That’s a real issue the league needs to address and players need to be careful about.
“When you sign on that dotted line, you owe your effort and your game to that team, to that city, to the fans. And so [once the contract runs out] You have every right to leave as a free agent. But if you sign the contract, then you should be bound by that contract.
“If you come to an agreement with the team that, well, it’s probably best for us to part ways, that’s one thing. But the Davis thing was really groundbreaking, and hopefully it won’t be a trend, because it’s bad for the league. “
Maybe it was. Davis certainly made things ugly going out, playing limited minutes in limited games for a team he was trying to publicly quit. New Orleans even benched him for a potential game-winning shot in one game because there was no point in letting him take the glory. Davis went so far to use a “That’s it!” shirt on his way to the door, looking smug. New Orleans’ anger likely would have continued to bubble up if they hadn’t conveniently won the lottery for Zion Williamson to start the clock on his next chapter.
Davis was eventually traded to the Lakers so it felt like a relatively fair package. No one’s talking about the way they left New Orleans now. Ultimately, Davis needed the Lakers as much as the Lakers needed Davis. This was the center of attention that his talent deserved to have. Would the league be better off if he spent this season in New Orleans while he waited for his contract to expire as LeBron aged another year?
Elite basketball talent is only vibrant for a while, and AD had to show the world that he could do this not just in mindless January games or with the deck against him in the first round, but on stage more. basketball great. Anthony Davis owns the NBA Finals. This is the way it was always meant to be.
