The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
The NBA Finals return tonight and here are four things that fans should be looking for going into a pivotal Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
Anthony Davis’s touches
Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, Anthony Davis was averaging 33 points,11.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. Game 3 was a nightmare for AD as he finished with a pedestrian line of 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on only nine shots.
The key here isn’t even the 15 points (which isn’t good) but the nine shots are very telling for somebody who has been aggressive all postseason long and has a distinct advantage inside. It will be very interesting if the Lakers make a strong effort to feed AD.
Turnovers
All postseason long the Lakers have taken care of the ball — for the most part — but the losses have always come from excessive turnovers.
In Game 3 against Miami, the Lakers had 19 turnovers with LeBron James accounting for almost half with eight himself followed by five from AD. The trend here is simple — if the Lakers take care of the ball they give themselves a high chance of winning, but if they don’t, be prepared for the worst.
Defensive energy from the jump
I have a thought on how you can tell exactly how a Laker game will go depending on the defensive effort in the first five minutes of the game. If the Lakers come out with the right intent and mindset it usually spells trouble for the opponent.
But like what we all saw in Game 3, the Lakers have nights where they try to muster the energy from nothing after no-showing for three quarters. The Miami Heat aren’t just going to lay down, so the Lakers must show up ready to play lockdown defense for 48 minutes.
LeBron on Jimmy Butler
Coming into Game 3, Jimmy Butler was held in check by the Lakers and seemed to be struggling to find a rhythm. That story changed as Jimmy Butler dropped a 40 point triple-double and beat LeBron in every stat in an NBA Finals game for the first time of LeBron’s career.
Butler had his way all night with sheer will and determination, and when the Lakers soft switched smaller defenders on Butler, he bullied them into easy twos. If the Lakers tried to play Markieff Morris on Butler for more size, Butler just blew right past him for FT’s or a layup.
This sounds awfully similar to Jamal Murray destroying the Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals and shimmying down the court.
LeBron took that challenge in Game 4 and shut down Murray to secure a commanding 3-1 in the series. If LeBron wants that elusive fourth title in his decorated trophy cabinet it means sitting in that chair vs Jimmy Butler.