That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check out the full game report.
The post-game press conference tell a tale of two locker rooms.
LIVE: @MiamiHEAT/@Lakers Game 1 Postgame Presser.#NBAFinals Presented by YouTube TV
— NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
https://t.co/NenXpiivmt
Mary Waltz checks in, via email:
Miami was a heavy underdog to begin with. Lose Dragic and you can call the series tonight. Dragic is really, really good and is under appreciated. Miami will snag a game but if Dragic doesn’t return it’s over.
Updated
Final: Miami 98-116 Los Angeles
The Heat raced out to a 23-10 lead and scored a bunch of meaningless points in garbage time to make it look respectable. But the meat of Game 1 was all Lakers, who led by as many as 32 points. Anthony Davis led all scorers with 34 points while LeBron James finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. The big question for the Heat moving forward will be the availability of Bam Adebayo (shoulder) and Goran Dragic (foot), who both left Game 1 due to injury.
Miami 90-107 Los Angeles; 4.18, fourth quarter
The Heat get a couple of cosmetic buckets from Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn, but this one has been done and dusted since the third quarter. Not sure why Jimmy Butler on the floor (especially after doing his ankle right before half-time), but no one likes a backseat driver.
Throw it down, LeBron! 💥#NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/kt5F6zxWG0
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 1, 2020
Miami 75-95 Los Angeles; 9.33, fourth quarter
LeBron is up to 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Davis with a game-high 30 to go with six boards and five assists. Miami has cut the 32-point lead to 20, but the Lakers are in total control. Miami’s Tyler Herro is minus-39, which if it holds will be the worst in NBA finals history since the stat was first tracked in 1997.
End of third quarter: Miami 67-93 Los Angeles
The discussion in ESPN’s commentary booth has drifted into a straight-faced argument over whether Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is 73 years old, could score 10 points in an NBA game today, in case you’re wondering how competitive the action on the floor has been.
Miami 61-89 Los Angeles; 2.31, third quarter
The ship be sinking.
LBJ dish, Dwight drop-off, AD slam!#NBAFinals on ABC pic.twitter.com/lXqfnFhvjx
— NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
Miami 55-87 Los Angeles; 6.04, third quarter
ESPN’s Rachel Nichols confirms Goran Dragic (left foot) is doubtful to return. He may not be a household name, but that’s a devastating blow for the Heat, especially if he’s forced to miss extended time. Dragic has been Miami’s second-leading scorer throughout the postseason and one of their most consistent offensive threats. The injury appears to have happened on this play where he stepped on Rondo’s foot:
This looks like the Dragic injury play...that doesn't look good. pic.twitter.com/tGjhEK5B8X
— Half Court Hoops (@HalfCourtHoops) October 1, 2020
Miami 54-80 Los Angeles; 7.49, third quarter
The Lakers are pouring it on. Another offensive rebound followed by a bucket by Anthony Davis pushes the lead to 22 points. LeBron follows with a driving lay-up on the next trip down, followed by another Davis dunk on a Dwight Howard assist. Timeout, Spoelstra.
AD bullying under the basket 😤 pic.twitter.com/hFiOfEHvkd
— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2020
Miami 51-72 Los Angeles; 10.20, third quarter
It’s getting grim for Miami. Goran Dragic has a left foot injury and is doubtful to return. Jimmy Butler is hobbling. Danny Green hits another three and the Lakers are up by 21. The only Laker who’s played tonight who hasn’t hit a three is Dwight Howard.
Miami 51-68 Los Angeles; 11.29, third quarter
Jimmy Butler opens the half with an old-fashioned three-point play, but LeBron coolly drains a three-pointer on the other end. That’s 12 threes for the Lakers (on 18 attempts). Not much Miami can do about that.
Half-time: Miami 48-65 Los Angeles
The Lakers, who trailed 23-10 in the first quarter, carry a 17-point lead into half-time. A 30-point turnaround helped along by 11 three-pointers. Jimmy Butler is leading the way for Miami with 16 points on 7-for-10 from the field – but the rest of the Heat are 12-for-35 with 32 points. The Lakers on offense are all but licking their chops to face Miami’s Tyler Herro, who’s a dismal minus-30 on the night.
Miami 48-65 Los Angeles; 12.0, second quarter
Jimmy Butler limping badly after turning his ankle while going up for a lay-up. He immediately hobbles off the court to the locker room.
Updated
Miami 47-59 Los Angeles; 3.17, second quarter
The call is overturned and the Lakers retain their timeout. Moments later LeBron darts downcourt in a blur and deposits a lay-up for his sixth and seventh points. Crucial for Miami to not let the hot-shooting Lakers pull away heading into the half.
Miami 43-57 Los Angeles; 3.28, second quarter
Danny Green hits another longball for the Lakers. That’s 11 threes for Los Angeles (on 17 attempts) and 16 unanswered points. They’re shooting 56% from two, 65% from three and 100% from the line. Yikes. Jimmy Butler appears to snap the run with an old-fashioned three-point play on the other end, but Frank Vogel is calling for a video review on the call. This might be switched to an offensive foul on contact initiated by Butler. We should know momentarily ...
Miami 43-54 Los Angeles; 5.00, second quarter
Markieff Morris cans a 27ft three and that’s 13 straight points for the Lakers, who have taken an 11-point lead. Nearly three minutes since Miami’s last points.
Miami 43-49 Los Angeles; 6.15, second quarter
The Lakers’ Alex Caruso, who’s been very good defensively tonight, extends an 8-0 scoring run with a driving lay-up to give Los Angeles their biggest lead of the first half at 49-43, prompting Miami coach Erik Spoelstra to call a timeout. Caruso is 3-for-3 off the bench and it’s been LA’s supporting cast doing the heavy lifting so far.
Anthony Davis is the only #Lakers starter with a positive plus/minus at the moment:
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) October 1, 2020
AD +8
LeBron -3
Green -3
KCP -4
Dwight -13
Miami 43-41 Los Angeles; 7.30, second quarter
The Lakers caught back up with the longball: they’re 7-for-13 from three-point range on the night. But Miami noses ahead after a three-pointer by Butler (a game-high 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting) followed by back-to-back jumpers by Tyler Herro. Both teams shooting exactly 50% from the field midway through the second.
DON'T MISS THIS ACTION ON ABC!
— NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
Tyler Herro's heating up for the @MiamiHEAT in Game 1! 🔥#NBAFinals presented by YouTube TV pic.twitter.com/Btn4h32MV1
End of first quarter: Miami 28-31 Los Angeles
After scoring 25 points on their first 14 possessions in the first quarter, the Heat fizzled with three on their final 11. Miami, playing mostly man-to-man with a bit of zone, struggled most with Butler off the floor near the end of the frame. Meanwhile, that’s Barack Obama sitting “courtside” in the virtual seats.
Barack Obama sitting in the virtual stands for tonight's #NBAFinals opener. pic.twitter.com/veDgYcYesg
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) October 1, 2020
Miami 25-18 Los Angeles; 3.08, first quarter
The Lakers’ oft-overlooked guards help cut into the Miami lead: a long stepback two by Rajon Rondo followed by a pair of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope threes. And all while LeBron is getting a puff on the bench. Gutsy call by Vogel and it’s paid off.
Updated
Miami 23-10 Los Angeles; 5.36, first quarter
The Heat rattle off seven quick points coming out of the TV timeout: a driving lay-up and 14ft jumper by Jimmy Butler followed by a long three by Jae Crowder. That’s 13 straight points by the Heat. Butler is 4-for-4 from the floor and Miami are shooting 72.7%. Lakers coach Frank Vogel calls a timeout to get things sorted.
Jae Crowder connects from downtown to cap a 13-0 @MiamiHEAT run on ABC! 🔥#HEATTwitter #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/rcwgA7lT1e
— NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
Updated
Miami 16-10 Los Angeles; 6.45, first quarter
Quick scoring burst by the Heat into the first TV timeout: lay-up by Bam Adebayo, Dragic driving lay-up, then an Adebayo dunk. Scorching start for Miami, who have made six of their first nine attempts from the floor including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Miami 10-10 Los Angeles; 8.16, first quarter
The Heat are throwing a lot of double-teams at LeBron James and Anthony Davis early, content let the Lakers’ guards beat them. Miami race out to an 8-3 lead on three-pointers by Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler. But a pair of Davis jumpers and a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stepback from 17ft tie the score at 10 apiece.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver reiterated Wednesday that the league’s hope is to begin next season with teams in their home arenas and with fans in the seats, though cautioned that there are still numerous unknowns to work through before any plan can be finalized, according to the Associated Press.
Silver, in his annual state-of-the-league address before tonight’s Game 1, also said the protocols that allowed the league to get through a restart in a so-called bubble at Walt Disney World such as strict adherence to mask-wearing and social distancing proved that a balance can be struck “between public health and economic necessity.”
“It’s certainly our goal,” Silver said, referring to playing in arenas. “But it’s dependent on some additional advancements. Rapid testing may be the key here.”
Updated
Here’s a number you’ll likely hear if you catch any of tonight’s telecast: 71.2. Specifically, the team that wins Game 1 of the NBA finals has gone on to win the championship 71.2% of the time (or 52 times out of 73). Sure, that’s not always the case, but history shows that drawing first blood is important.
A bit more background: the Heat and Lakers met two times this regular season with LA winning both of those matchups. The Heat are 27-37 all-time against the Lakers during the regular season, including 18-14 in home games and 9-23 in road games. Tonight’s game will mark their first ever meeting in the postseason.
The teams’ first ever meeting came back during Miami’s inaugural season in November 1988, when the Lakers cruised to a 138-91 victory behind Magic Johnson (11 points, 17 assists) and Orlando Woolridge (a game-high 22 points off the bench). The defeat came amid the Heat’s franchise-opening 17-game losing streak, a skid they finally ended a couple weeks later with a 89-88 win over – you guessed it – the Clippers.
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Game 1 of the NBA finals between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers. This might have seemed like something of an improbable matchup at the end of last season after both of these teams finished 10th in their respective conferences, making this the first NBA finals ever to feature two teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs the previous year. But Miami added Jimmy Butler and Los Angeles acquired LeBron James and Anthony Davis and, well, here they are: the last two teams standing in the NBA’s Walt Disney World bubble.
Surely the Heat are the unlikelier of the pair: the first No 5 seed to reach the finals since the current playoff format was implemented in 1984. But both teams have surged to the championship round with relative ease, going 12-3 along the way.
Tip-off is about 40 minutes away. Here’s a quick look at some of the key narratives by the numbers.
- 4 – Miami are seeking their fourth NBA championship
- 5 – There are a combined five international players on NBA finals rosters: Kyle Alexander (Miami; Canada), Kostas Antetokounmpo (LA Lakers; Greece; BWB Africa 2015), Goran Dragić (Miami; Slovenia), Kelly Olynyk (Miami; Canada; BWB Americas 2009), Chris Silva (Miami; Gabon)
- 10 – LeBron James will play in his 10th NBA finals, joining Bill Russell (12), Sam Jones (11) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) as the only players with 10 or more appearances
- 17 – The Lakers are trying to win their 17th NBA championship, which would tie the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.
- 29.6 – The Lakers’ Anthony Davis is averaging 29.6 points in his playoff career. Only two players have a higher playoff scoring average (minimum 25 games): Michael Jordan (33.4 ppg) and Allen Iverson (29.7 ppg)
- 2000 – Miami rookie Tyler Herro will be the first player born in the 2000s to play in the NBA finals
Updated
Bryan will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s how our writers see the series going:
The winner will be …
The Lakers in five. Even assuming that the Heat find a way to win Game 1, that will just end up making the Lakers angry. Watch for LA to win Game 2 wire-to-wire, and then take control of the series from there. The Heat will have at least one more game where they have a second-half lead, just to set things up for LeBron to have one of his Trademark LeBron Games. Game 5 ends up an anticlimactic blowout. Hunter Felt
The Lakers in six. Butler and the Heat have the chemistry and defensive tenacity to give LA a bigger headache than expected, but the Lakers’ class behind the two best players on the floor, girded by the support of Rondo, Caruso and KCP, will win out. Bryan Graham
The Heat in six? Their best player gives LeBron fits, their coach is one of the sharpest minds in the game and criminally underrated, and their roster is full of guys who feel overlooked or slighted for one reason or another. What’s more, they’ve got the added luxury of Pat Riley for an extra brain to pick. In a year where up is left, this feels about right. Andrew Lawrence
