Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Numbers for the Lakers to beat the Miami Heat

1. Jimmy Butler

Keep Butler under 5 free throw attempts per game

Jimmy Butler has completely bought into the Miami Heat culture and has done a terrific job leading this team into the NBA Finals. This is the guy who sets the standard for his team every game and he has done it his way.

Butler is known as being one of the best two-way players in the NBA, but there is one aspect of his game that doesn’t get talked about as much. Throughout this postseason Butler has rarely taken three-point shots as most of his scoring has come in the paint. He has been a great example of a star player who constantly uses his strengths in almost every play, and that is drawing fouls.

Butler has shot 83.5% from the free-throw line in his career and he recently raised that percentage to 85.7% in the conference finals. His ability to constantly attack the hoop and average seven free throw attempts per game frustrated the Celtics, as he used his physical strength to get to the line so often.

The part that makes it such a problem is that Butler is also great at absorbing that contact and finishing in the paint.

This is where the Los Angeles Lakers have to be especially careful, as they get called for a lot of fouls under the rim. Although the Lakers have experienced rim protectors, it could be difficult not to fall for Butler’s bait when he is driving to the cup, which could put Dwight Howard into foul trouble early if he is not careful.

As stated earlier, it will be necessary for Howard to be on the court to guard Bam Adebayo, so whoever Lakers coach Frank Vogel tasks with guarding Butler to start will need to prevent him from getting to the basket so easily.

While Butler will likely continue to not take three-point shots, he also not the best mid-range shooter either. He struggled most of the season with finding his mid-range shot, so if the Lakers can force him to take more of them during the finals, that would be huge. Keeping him out of the paint and forcing him into taking those uncomfortable shots, results in him getting less free throw attempts.

If the Los Angeles Lakers are able to accomplish that, they should aim towards keeping him from shooting any more than four free throws a game. These NBA finals games could potentially have small win margins, which means a couple of made free throws, could make all the difference for the Lakers.