LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers take on his former team, the Miami Heat.
After a 10-year absence, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to the NBA finals!
Usually, such an achievement would be seen as standard fare amongst Laker fans. However, in the 10 years between finals appearances, the franchise endured its worst stretch in its otherwise illustrious history – including the equal-worst record league-wide over 7 of those years.
As a result, I and many other Lakers fans no longer take winning for granted and appreciate this achievement way more than we may have a decade ago.
Standing in our way of glory is an unlikely opponent based on the regular season, the 5th seeded Miami Heat.
However, en route to the same 12-3 record postseason held by the Lakers, the Heat have shown that they’ve transformed into a completely different animal and a fearsome opponent.
In this article, I’m going to outline three of the keys to the series; areas that the Lakers must pay close attention to or come out on top in if they wish to see championship number 17 hanging from the rafters of Staples.