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Wednesday 30 September 2020 12:35, UK
Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat? Heatcheck regulars Ovie Soko, Mo Mooncey and three-time NBA champion BJ Armstrong make their NBA Finals predictions.
The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, start the series as heavy favourites but the Heat, whose playoff journey has already seen them dispatch the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, will have every intention of pulling off an upset.
On the latest edition of Heatcheck, Soko, Mooncey and Armstrong outlined how they believe the NBA Finals will unfold.
I picked the Lakers to win it all at the beginning of the season. COVID or no COVID! Bubble or no bubble! LeBron James, AD, championship!
Why? Because they still have another level. They are going to keep kicking it up. When they get to that top gear, I don't think the Miami Heat have the horsepower to keep up with them.
The Heat won the Eastern Conference Finals series with their defense. The schemes coach Erik Spoelstra drew up were phenomenal. It was the zone defense that gave the Celtics real problems.
The difference between the Celtics and the Lakers is that they have someone who can bust that zone: Davis getting onto that 'nail' spot in the zone at the free throw line where he can operate and make the correct reads, whether it is shooting a jump shot, taking it to the hole or finding his team-mates with passes.
The Lakers also have James and Rajon Rondo, seasoned veterans who have seen everything you could throw at them, whereas the Celtics were a young team.
I expect the Heat to give the Lakers a good fight, but the Lakers will come out with (the series win).
The Heat have two guys on the floor who are defensive liabilities. We saw LeBron hunt out Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr in mismatches in the Lakers-Nuggets series. If he gets those switches onto Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson, it will be a long night for the Miami Heat.
That said, they have Bam Adebayo to go up against Davis, plus Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala to throw at James. I don't think the series is going to be a whitewash with the Lakers winning every game by 20. I would be very surprised if that happened.
I feel the Heat could steal a game or two but I would be very, very surprised if LeBron James isn't lifting the title at the end of this series.
The Miami Heat have proven to be a very dangerous team. They have exceeded all expectations. The thing that interests me coming into this series is this: what are the Miami Heat going to do to take away something from the Los Angeles Lakers?
Right now, the combination of James and Davis has steamrolled through the playoffs so far. Rondo has been tremendous for the Lakers. Adding another ball-handler to the mix has allowed James to score at a high clip.
I am looking for Miami to come out and, first and foremost, figure out 'what can we take away?' I expect them to play a lot of zone defense. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra knows LeBron James and understands the game. I expect him to get into his bag of tricks because whoever takes something away from the other team has the advantage.
I think the Miami Heat have enough offense to score. They have shooters, they can play in transition and, most importantly, they can play and score in the last four minutes of a ball game.
But first, the Heat coaches have to figure out how to take something away from this Lakers team. If they go exclusively 'zone', the Lakers could settle into a rhythm. I don't think they can match-up with James and Davis if they play exclusively man-to-man defense. But if they can 'junk up' the game a little bit and throw the Lakers off a little bit, it gives them a chance.
I am still picking the Lakers because of their talent but I think the Heat will compete and a team led by Jimmy Butler is going to battle. I'm not concerned about them playing hard and playing the game tough.
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