LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers to Game 2 win with a game-high 33 points on 14-for-25 shooting, matching Davis’ offensive brilliance. Anthony Davis also added a solid 30 points before his second miss in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
“His shot-making, the many ways that he can hurt you offensively – in the post, rolling to the basket, working the baseline like he did against the zone, working the middle, shooting 3s from the perimeter — it’s just very unique,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel says after the 124-114 victory.
“You can just see his determination to win this championship on both sides of the ball. But I thought tonight you saw it even more on the offensive end.”
Rajon Rondo was stellar on that end, too, finishing with 16 points, 10 assists, and four rebounds in 26 minutes as the Lakers did much of the damage against a 2-3 zone.
The Lakers, however, were not nearly as successful on the defensive end, especially in the second and third quarters, in which Miami outscored them 78-70.
Jimmy Butler put on a masterclass for the undermanned Heat, with 25 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds. Kelly Olynyk had 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, plus nine rebounds, coming off the bench but essentially filling in for Adebayo.
Watch Game 2 highlights of the NBA Finals below
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The goal in Game 2 by the Los Angeles Lakers was very clear, the paint is the only location and they attacked it to the fullest of their strengths. Miami Heat also had the same intentions.
The Lakers, however, outscored the Heat 56-46 in the paint, but the story is more complicated than that: Miami had a massive advantage at the line, and the Lakers absolutely dominated the Heat on the boards (with a 38.5 per cent offensive rebounding rate, per Cleaning The Glass).
Miami looked different without Dragic and Adebayo, but Vogel admitted that their movement in offence is very difficult to guard no matter who’s in uniform.
According to Cleaning The Glass, Miami shot 21-for-29 and drew 10 shooting fouls at the rim — 46 per cent of its offence came at the rim, a mark it only surpassed three times this season.
Los Angeles Lakers on the other hand shot 19-for-27 and drew three shooting fouls at the rim, per CTG, but the difference is that it also went 8-for-9 on short midrange shots, i.e. floaters.
The Lakers had a terrific night on offence and part of that huge success can be attributed to the astounding efforts from the bench.
“We want to put playmakers in the middle,” Vogel says.
“If we can get the ball there and suck the defenders in, it opens up the perimeter, it opens up the rim. And obviously, you want great decision-makers in there, so Bron, AD, Rondo, all those guys getting in that spot benefits our offence.”
Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra, was more philosophical: “In those moments of truth, when we had opportunities to get the game closer, it usually seemed to end up in some kind of offensive rebound or something near the basket. But this is the deal. And if you want something badly enough, you’ll figure out how to overcome it. They have great size, and Anthony Davis is an elite player. We’re trying to get something accomplished, and you just have to go to another level. That’s the bottom line.”
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