[ad_1]
ORLANDO: The Los Angeles Lakers, powered by superstar LeBron James’ triple-double, dominated the Miami Heat 106-93 on Sunday (Oct. 11) to win a record-matching 17th NBA championship , but the first in a decade.
James added another chapter to an epic career, surrendering 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as he captured his fourth NBA title with a third team.
He earned Most Valuable Player honors of the NBA Finals for the fourth time, and said the achievement had a special flavor with the Lakers.
“This is a historic franchise and being a part of this is something I will be able to talk about and my grandchildren and children will be able to talk about – their papaya played for the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said.
“It’s like playing for the Yankees and winning or playing for the Cowboys and winning a Super Bowl, or the Patriots. It’s like playing for the Red Sox.”
READ: Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, daughter killed in helicopter crash
Los Angeles Lakers players celebrate after the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
James said the magnitude of what he was trying to accomplish with the Lakers kept his mind focused on the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
“Being able to win with a historic franchise is something that, no matter if your mind wanders, you can always remember why you’re doing it,” James said, recalling what he told Lakers president Jeanie Buss when he arrived. Los Angeles in 2018 that “I wanted to put this franchise back in its place.”
Anthony Davis, playing in his first series of titles after years of frustration in New Orleans, added 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Lakers completed a four-game win over two more than eight months after the helicopter crash that killed the legend. of the Kobe Bryant team. , which had led the Lakers to their last title in 2010.
EMOTIONAL SEASON
The series in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida capped not just an emotional season for the Lakers with the loss of the talisman Bryant, but a season of uncertainty and turmoil for the NBA as players grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. and social demands and racial justice are spreading across the United States.
The Lakers outplayed Miami in drive, muscle and play, making sure it didn’t come down to any last-gasp effort like it did when it denied Los Angeles in game five on Friday.
Los Angeles had started Game 6 at halftime, their 36 second-quarter points equaling the Heat’s first-half total as the Lakers took a 64-36 lead at halftime with four players already scoring in double figures.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (23) shoots over Miami Heat’s Kelly Olynyk (9) during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA basketball Finals on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill) lyrics
Rajon Rondo had a perfect six of six from the court in the first half as the Lakers built the second-largest halftime lead in NBA Finals history.
Rondo, who won a title with the Celtics in 2008, scored 19 points off the bench. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 17, Danny Green scored 11 and the Lakers tied the Boston Celtics for the most titles of all time.
The Heat, who had stunned the Lakers on Friday with Jimmy Butler’s resounding triple-double, failed to produce another miracle in front of the stifling Los Angeles defense.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Butler and Jae Crowder added 12 apiece, but Miami simply had no response to the knockout blow from Los Angeles in the first half.
Davis ‘over the hump’
James played his 260th playoff game, beating Derek Fisher by the most of all time.
He had signaled the Lakers’ determination with nine points in the first quarter.
The Lakers were devastating in the transition, none more so than James, who went coast to coast for a basket at the rim with 6:21 left in the opening period that propelled the Lakers lead to 18-3 and led the bench at your feet.
Miami received an emotional boost with the return of guard Goran Dragic with 1:09 left in the first quarter.
Dragic had been out of the game since he suffered a plantar fascia tear in his left foot in the first game, but finished the night with just five points on two of eight shots.
Butler hit just one basket in the first quarter. “Obviously nobody likes to lose,” Butler said. “But I think we fought all year long, with ups and downs, we stuck together, and I think that’s what it’s about.”
James said that one of the great satisfactions of the victory was helping Davis win a title.
“I know what it’s like to have seven years where you feel like you can’t get over the hump,” said James, who had his arms around Davis on the touchline as the final seconds ticked off time.
“Being able to catch him and push him and let him know how great he is … that’s what it’s all about.”
