ORLANDO, Fla. _ No one expected the Miami Heat to quit, short-handed super-underdogs that they were.
They came into the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, shocked the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, outlasted the Boston Celtics and forced their way into an NBA Finals they had no business making.
So even though the Heat lost two starters to injury in Game 1, the Lakers expected a fight.
Game 2 was that, but the Lakers prevailed 124-114 on Friday night. It took 33 points from LeBron James and 32 from Anthony Davis. It was the first time since 2002 that a pair of Lakers teammates scored 30 or more points in a Finals game _ in 2002 it was Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
"They both had the competitive spirit within themselves to will their teams to win. I think me and Bron are the same way," Davis said. "... It's not always going to be pretty. Sometimes we argue, sometimes we have disagreements. ... We know we have something special with us two and this team and we're trying to capitalize on it."
"This team has a lot of fight," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of the Heat. "Like I said, they're extremely difficult to guard no matter who's in uniform. ... With Bam (Adebayo) out they become different from the standpoint of more spacing at the three-point line ... they become different with him and (Goran) Dragic out. Those guys played extremely hard. Kept cutting into the lead."
There were a few special guests in the building Friday. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and team executive Linda Rambis attended their first game in the bubble, sitting inside a raised booth. They waved through the plexiglass at general manager and vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka as he wandered by to say hello from a distance. Buss' brother, Joey, one of the team's alternate governors, was also in the booth, attending his second Finals game.
The game offered a throwback to an age when the three-pointer didn't rule, and it was a good thing for the Lakers, as they started the game cold from three-point range and never quite found their rhythm.
Their starters made seven of 28 three-point attempts. Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went a combined three of 19 from distance. But the Lakers made up for it by making 66% of their two-point attempts.
Dragic and Adebayo could only watch from the bench in Game 2, and while a thorough dismantling was expected, it never truly came. The Lakers led by six points after one quarter despite making only three of 12 three-point attempts.
However, they made 22 of their first 25 two-pointers, led by Davis, whose jumper was nearly unstoppable. Davis made 14 of his first 15 shots, and became the focus of Miami's defensive efforts as the game progressed.
"His mind-set is he wants to be a champion," Vogel said of Davis. "He's extremely motivated to play at a high level. You're seeing it every time he steps on the floor. ... You can just see his determination to win this championship on both sides of the ball. I thought tonight you could really see it offensively."
It was defensively that the Lakers had breakdowns.
They led by 18 points in the third quarter, led by Davis, who scored 15 third-quarter points. Still the Heat pushed back, pulling to within nine near the end of the period with a pair of free throws by Tyler Herro.
At one point, James and Davis appeared frustrated with each other.
"We just try to always hold each other accountable. We both want to be great, we both want to dominate the game," Davis said. "We had some blown coverages on the defensive end. ... We just had that moment. Put it behind us and kept playing. ... That's just two guys who really want to win and have a love for the game."
The Heat stayed close, thanks to a couple of scoring droughts by the Lakers, but L.A. also held Miami at bay. The lead never got below 10 points in the fourth quarter.
"We know we can be a lot better," James said. "Myself and AD, we're not satisfied with just the win. We want to be great as close to 48 minutes as possible."
Still, an ugly win is a win, and it gets the Lakers another step closer to the ultimate goal.
