LeBron James had one of his greatest individual performances in playoff history in Friday night’s Game 5, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the Miami Heat, led by Jimmy Butler but powered by other crucial contributions on Friday night, that the Lakers supporting cast, outside of Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, did not offer.
While Danny Green’s shot at the end of the game drew most of the ire of Lakers fans, the Lakers needed a stronger game from other Lakers like Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma. Even though LeBron had 40 points in Game 5, he did that while the Heat were aggressive in trying to get the ball out of his hands.
Jimmy Butler, on the other hand, was able to attack in one-on-one situations and had much more success when guarded by Anthony Davis in Game 5 than he did when Davis took the assignment in Game 4. Butler is now 12 for 24 from the field in situations when Davis is the primary defender, a number that the Heat would love to take, especially with the amount Butler has been getting to the line. Both teams appear to be locked into their gameplan and not much will change. The rest, as it did in Game 5, will likely come down to execution.
How To Watch
Time: 4:30 p.m. Pacific/7:30 p.m. Eastern
Channel: ABC/ESPN Radio
Spread via BetMGM: Lakers -5.5
Injuries: Miami’s Goran Dragic (torn plantar fascia) remains doubtful.
