Here’s what NBA 2K21 thinks will win the NBA Finals

Even though many fans (myself included) never thought that the NBA would continue its season after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year, the league proved everyone wrong. Not only did they successfully finish the season, they did so without a single positive test. Now, the NBA Finals are set to begin in the NBA bubble, with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat set to face off for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Before the Finals started, we decided it would be fun to see what NBA 2K21, one of our favorite sports games, thought would happen if we simulated the games. I headed over to the game’s MyLeague mode, which has a built-in playoff support option that matches the 2020 NBA Playoffs support. From there, I used the most up-to-date player roster the game had and simulated until we had the Lakers and the Heat in the Finals. Using a full 12 minute simulation, I ran through the Finals a handful of times to see how the game thought things would go, and unfortunately for any Miami Heat fan, things went very well for the Lakers.

You can take a look at a play-by-play breakdown for the final simulation I did, as well as see who took home the Finals MVP honors, below:

Final: Lakers 134, Heat 114

Game 1 was for the Los Angeles Lakers in a huge way. After falling early in the first quarter, the Lakers bounced back and never looked back, going through a major storm during the second half to capture the first game. The Lakers were led by LeBron James, who scored 33 points to accompany 5 assists and 12 rebounds in his incredible 10th appearance in the NBA Finals. The Lakers have had one of the best defenses in the NBA all year, and it showed, as the Heat couldn’t do much. Superstar Jimmy Butler, who led the Heat to the FInals, couldn’t do much, scoring just 17 points on 7-12 shooting during the loss.

Notable performances

Final: Heat 117, Lakers 90

Game 2 of the Finals saw the biggest hit from the Miami Heat, who took a 31-15 lead in the first quarter and dominated the rest of the way. Unlike in Game 1, the Heat were able to take just about any shot they wanted, with every player on the team shooting over 50% from the field. Heat point guard Goran Dragic led the charge, scoring 26 points on 9-16 shooting to accompany three assists. Rookie phenom Tyler Herro also helped lead the Heat to victory, scoring 24 points and making four 3s during the victory. Unfortunately for the Lakers, no one but LeBron (who scored 32 points) could do much, as Anthony Davis scored just 14 points as the team’s second leading scorer.

Notable performances

Final: Lakers 102, Heat 83

While Game 2 went the way of MIami, Game 3 saw the Lakers settle down and take control of the pace, leading to a much lower scoring game, which they won 102-83. This time, it was Anthony Davis who led the Lakers in scoring. He posted 20 points to go along with nine rebounds in the Game 3 win. LeBron James didn’t score as much, finishing with just 15 points, but he dished out 10 assists, and his renewed defensive effort was more than enough to help put down a team. Miami Heat who went through heavy shooting drops throughout the game.

Notable performances

Final: Lakers 114, Heat 79

Game 4 of the mock NBA Finals was more of the same for the Lakers, as their stellar defense and overwhelming offense was too much for the Miami Heat. The Lakers held a nine-point lead after the first quarter and continued to take control as time passed, even beating the Heat 22-12 in the third quarter en route to a massive 114-79 victory. LeBron James was once again the Lakers’ leading scorer, as he had 32 points and 12 rebounds in another dominant performance. As for the Heat, it was another tough shooting night, with no one but Goran Dragic (25) scoring more than 20 points. Despite Bam Adebayo’s 20 rebounds, the Heat couldn’t do much, with Jimmy Butler once again silent, scoring just 10 points in a downright awful performance.

Notable performances

Final: Lakers 119, Heat 90

LeBron James saved his best performance for last, delivering an absolute masterclass in basketball in the Lakers’ Game 5 victory. The superstar scored 48 points, six rebounds and 14 assists in the championship win, and also set the Lakers franchise record for the most triples in a playoff game with eight triples. Veteran NBA veteran Dwight Howard also helped the Lakers, grabbing an astonishing 19 rebounds to help the Lakers clinch their first championship since 2010. Although it looked like they were going to fight after Game 2, the Miami Heat They were simply no match for the Lakers defense, as Miami again shot horribly off Goran Dragic, who scored another 25 points. The championship victory gives the Lakers.

Notable performances

Perhaps unsurprisingly, LeBron James was named Finals MVP for his stellar performance in all five simulated games. James not only led the Lakers in almost every category, but he also averaged insane 32 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds during the Finals run. If this happened in real life, this would be James’ fourth NBA Championship MVP and fourth Finals MVP, and it would also make LeBron James the first player in NBA history to win a championship and MVP. of the Finals with three different organizations, as he has already won titles. with the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The NBA Finals begin tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, so fans curious to see if these simulations turn out to be true will have to tune in to find out.