Great discussion so far, let me play devil's advocate here. Reasons why Lakers will win this series: 1. They have the 2 best players on the court (by a significant margin). How many times has a team in the finals, with clearly the 2 best players, lost the series? - 2004 Lakers (kobe/shaq) but they had internal turmoil i would argue (this is the only one in the last 20 years that for sure makes the list) - 2011 Heat (although you can make an argument, Dirk was 2nd after Lebron)...regardless, current Miami has no one at Dirk's level so not sure this qualifies either - 2014 Heat (i would not count this, wade was nowhere near his normal level, knees were shot by this point) 2. Lebron will target the following players. Robinson, Herro, Dragic... there is no where to hide, if miami switches they are toast 3. Denver tried Zone D against Lakers and it did not work. When you have lebron play making and directing the offence, AD in the middle (shooting goat level from mid-range thus far) it won't work 4. Lakers can play 2 bigs, and miami cannot force them off the floor (Howard/AD). Howard did a decent job on Jokic at times, which allows AD to roam and rest, and miami has no one to make Howard and AD not be on at the same time (iggy, crowder can't create, butler can't hit threes). On the defensive side, who will keep AD and howard off the glass? You have Bam... that's it... who can miami counter with? Kelly Olynyk? 5. Lakers will dominate the boards 6. Lakers players have more finals experience (lebron, rondo, danny).. even though danny is awful right now. 7. Lakers will likely get a favourable whistle (Lebron/AD) - star treatment Miami will have to pack the paint, and hope lakers miss outside shots. I also think lakers will be the best defence miami will have seen this playoffs. Prediction: Lakers win in 6. Although i would not be shocked if it ends in 5.
all great points..i dont think that anyone would argue that lakers are anything but firm favourites as the factor of having the 2 "biggest dogs" on the court at all times is historically critical and almost always series determining...but maybe,just maybe davis is a little limited on his ankle or suffers another ailment which he is prone to do so often and/or lebron is just a notch below the monstrous dominance of 2015-2018 finals levels and things can even up pretty quickly if heat guys can all rise and do things by committee.if the series looks like it is going deep things may start to go sideways a bit for the lakers.they do seem very cohesive and together for the most part but they have yet to encounter any true and present danger/adversity this whole season and things can splinter when you least expect them to under duress/pressure.....but you are right in seeing advantages for the lakers of course.theres a reason the books have them strong faves.
Most retarded post of year.
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