NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat For NBA Championship Finals

The stage is set for the 2020 NBA Finals as Lebron James makes his 10th Finals appearance in pursuit of his 4th championship.

Now, to make the game even more substantial, his opponent will be his former team, the Miami Heat, who James has won back to back championships with in the past. Miami has been underestimated since the start of the season, not even in anyone’s top contenders to make the finals.

They even received flack for acquiring Jimmy Bulter who has been perceived around the NBA as a locker room cancer and difficult to work or win with. That chip on Miami’s shoulder willed them to make it all the way to the big stage.

The Lakers also faced some undermining of their ability to win the championship this year, as they were constantly ridiculed as not good enough to beat the Clippers, who were upset by the Nuggets after blowing a 3-1 series lead.

With that chip on the Laker’s shoulder, as well as the motivation to win it all in memory of Kobe’s death, that didn't stop them from getting to where they are now.

This will be the first finals in history where both teams didn’t even make the playoffs the year before.

The beginning of Game 1 started with Miami having a hot start gaining a somewhat comfortable lead in the first quarter, but the Lakers rallied back making consistent runs and never looked back after.

The Laker take a dominate victory 116 to 98, with Anthony Davis leading 34 points. To make matters even worse for Miami, injuries were looming for key players throughout the game such as Jimmy Butler (ankle), Gordan Dragic (foot), and Bam Adebayo (neck). Jimmy Butler’s injury isn’t threatening to his play, while Dragic and Adebayo are listed as doubtful in their injury reports.

This has the potential to leave a hole in Miami’s offensive and defensive gameplan. We will see Miami weathers the storm, and if Dragic and Adebayo will play through.