NBA Finals: Lakers

Game 1 of the 2019-2020 NBA finals is in the books, and for the Los Angeles Lakers, everything is going according to plan. Many chose them to go to the finals and win. In a weird way, it got even easier as they rose through the playoffs.

In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Lakers for guard Lonzo Ball, forward Brandon Ingram, and much more. This was an anticipated transaction that finally ended up happening for a hefty price. After that, the sports world had the Lakers as heavy contenders for the championship, and this season has been almost perfect for the them.

Before COVID-19 caused a temporary cancellation of the season, the Lakers had only lost 14 games and were number 1 seed in the western conference. Once the Lakers came back from the long break, they showed some concerns, losing to teams that many of us thought they were superior than, like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, or the Sacramento Kings. It turned out they were just shaking some rust off.

Since entering the playoffs back in August, the Lakers have lost only a total of three games in the three series they have completed. With as easy as they made playing the Miami Heat look, this time they may be going for 4 wins straight. The game started with the Heat playing well against the Lakers offensively taking advantage of every chance they were given to score, steals, fast breaks second chance points. The Lakers, quickly turned everything around. They were now focusing more on offense, and not allowing anything easy on defense. The team that was down 13 points in the first quarter was now on top with momentum heading into the second, the score being 31-30 Lakers.

The second quarter continued how the first left off with the Lakers steadily growing a lead larger and larger on the Heat. For every NBA team that has superstar talent on it, a great way to know if the team is good, is by observing how the teams plays without the talent on the floor. Obviously, for the Lakers, that superstar talent is LeBron James. Even with James not playing, the Lakers held their own, making a great contribution to the big lead over Miami. Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, and others all performed up to par in the previous series against the Blazers, Rockets, and Nuggets, and continued to show their worth in this first game of the finals. The Lakers grew their lead to 20 points by mid-third quarter and stayed at that lead throughout the game. The final score was 116-98 Lakers. 

The Lakers definitely have the ability to keep this up throughout the series and possibly end it early, but will they let it fall into the hands of the Heat?