EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Here are three takeaways from the Lakers’ 116-98 victory Wednesday over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals:
1. Now THAT was impressive.
The Lakers more than lived up to the hype in returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. They played like massive favorites, which they are, and emerged just three victories shy of their 17th championship.
Most oddsmakers have the Lakers winning the Finals in five games. Maybe it should have been four.
I know, I know. Too soon.
But Anthony Davis looked like it was his 50th Finals game, not his first. He scored 34 points and it seemed pretty effortless. If he was nervous, it definitely didn’t show.
LeBron James, who actually was playing his 50th Finals game, almost had another triple-double as the Lakers led by as many as 32. James finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Throw in some unfortunate injuries to two key Heat players (see below), and this doesn’t feel like it’s going the full seven games. Or six. Or…I’ll just stop there.
2. Miami is hurting. And it has nothing to do with the scoreboard.
Two of the Heat’s top three players left the game with injuries and a third, Jimmy Butler, turned his ankle right before halftime but stayed in the game.
Guard Goran Dragic exited after sustaining a left foot injury in the second quarter. He’d been having a superb playoff run until he stopped to make a pass while driving the lane. He suffered a plantar tear of his left foot, according to ESPN, an injury that could easily sideline him the rest of the series.
Bam Adebayo, Miami’s young, up-and-coming center appeared to injure his shoulder after making contact with LeBron James while going for a rebound in the third quarter. He was wincing as he walked to the locker room. His status was unclear for Game 2 on Friday.
Dragic was averaging 20.9 points and 4.7 assists in the playoffs before Wednesday. Adebayo was averaging 18.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
3. The Lakers made their threes! The Lakers made their threes!
This has happened periodically throughout the playoffs, but the truth remains that the Lakers came into the night 12th out of 16 playoff teams in three-point shooting. Not good.
Then they made 11 of 17 behind the arc (65 percent) in the first half Wednesday on the way to a 65-48 halftime lead. Very, very good.
Starting guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green each made two of four three-point shots in the first half.
How hot were the Lakers? Less than two minutes into the third quarter, they set a team record for three-pointers in a Finals game. The old record was 12. The Lakers finished with 15.
Caldwell-Pope continued a solid September run and finished with 13 points. Green had 11. Davis and James, not to be forgotten, each made two of four behind the arc.
Side note: The Lakers were efficient from the free-throw line too, making 25 of 27 (93 percent).