Here are three takeaways from the Lakers’ 124-114 victory Friday over the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
1. The best trophy Anthony Davis has won in his career is the NBA All-Star Game MVP.
He’s playing like he deserves something much bigger than that.
With all due respect to what was surely a fun time at the 2017 All-Star soiree in New Orleans, an NBA Finals MVP award would be something to savor for Davis truly.
It might be only two games away.
Davis made a pristine 15 of 20 shots and finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds as the Lakers took a 2-0 series lead over the depleted Heat.
It came two days after his 34-point effort in the first Finals game he ever played.
No doubt about it. Kid’s looking good.
Davis, 27, has come close to winning NBA Defensive Player of the year, but it’s never happened. And back in 2013, Damian Lillard won Rookie of the Year, not Davis.
Of course, the trophy that truly matters at this point is the championship one. The Lakers are oh so close to their 17th as a franchise.
Maybe this is Davis’ time to get a nice solo trophy too finally.
2. Rajon Rondo just keeps delivering.
The veteran point guard had a spotty first two years with the Lakers, missing almost 40 percent of their regular-season games because of various injuries.
He was also off to a slow start when the league reconvened in Orlando in July. He missed six weeks after breaking his thumb in practice shortly after the Lakers arrived.
Since then, though, his value can’t be stated enough.
Rondo had 16 points in Game 2 and was sharp from three-point range, making three of four tries.
The latter is relatively new for him, but he’s now second among the Lakers’ rotation players in three-point shooting since playoffs began. Not bad for a 34-year-old.
3. The Lakers took a lot of three-point shots Friday. A record amount.
It’s not usually their specialty — they’re more of a slashing and driving offense — but the Lakers set a Finals record by hoisting 47 shots behind the arc.
It beat Cleveland’s old mark of 45 three-point tries in 2017 against Golden State.
The Lakers weren’t exactly on fire, making 16 threes for 34 percent accuracy, but they extended a fantastic stat: They’re now 14-0 when shooting 30 percent or better from three-point range since playoffs began.
Why so many threes for the Lakers? Quite simply, they’re trying to break Miami’s zone defense.
Coach Frank Vogel said he didn’t mind all the tries from deep because they were mostly open looks.
The Lakers’ reserves were generally connecting behind the arc: Rondo, Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, and Alex Caruso combined to shoot 47 percent.
However, the starters were a less accurate 25 percent as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green, in particular, combined to go three for 19 from three-point range.
Mike Bresnahan is the Lakers analyst for Spectrum SportsNet.