So, that game was… interesting.
Game one of the NBA Finals goes to the Los Angeles Lakers in resounding fashion. I mean, it was a beatdown. The final score of 116-98 doesn’t tell the story. To look at that score you might think the Heat put up a valiant fight, they did not. After the first quarter was over it became very clear, very quickly, that the Miami Heat had no chance in this game.
The Lakers led in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, steals, assists, blocks and of course, points. In fact, I have never watched an NBA Finals game change the fortunes of a team more than this game changed the fortunes of the Miami Heat. It was, in many ways, more than just one loss. Of course, the Heat will say it was just one game, bla bla bla, yada, yada, yada. I mean, they have to say that, but we all know this was the type of beatdown most teams do not rebound from.
Hopefully, Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler all will recover from the hits they took tonight. Butler returned after exiting early in the second quarter, but Dragic and Adebayo did not. If this was the regular season chances are we wouldn’t see any of them, including possibly Butler, for a while. But, these are the NBA Finals. If they can play, they will. Here’s hoping they do and here’s hoping their injuries aren’t too serious.
That being said, even with those three back and healthy, this was going to be an uphill battle for the Heat.
You may hear a lot over the next few days about an NBA Finals game played in 1985 now fondly remembered as “The Memorial Day Massacre“. In that game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics the Celtics took game one 148-114. Talk about a beatdown. When you look at that score against the score tonight it would be easy to surmise that the Celtics destroyed and demoralized the Lakers on their way to the NBA Finals. They did not. In fact, the Lakers won the Championship that season.
Tonight’s game is different. It was not the modern day equivalent of “The Memorial Day Massacre”, it was much, much worse.
Of course, in the standings, it only counts as one game. The Lakers still need to win three more in order to claim their 17th NBA Championship. Which would tie them with the Boston Celtics for most all time. After tonight, those three games seem more certain than anyone would have thought.
