By Timothy An

Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET

Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET

Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET

Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 9 ET

Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET

Game 6*: Sunday, Oct. 11: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET

Game 7*: Tuesday, Oct. 13: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET

The NBA Finals matchup is finally set, featuring the Los Angeles Lakers facing off against the Miami Heat. Both these teams breezed through the playoffs, posting a playoff record of 12-3. However, the Lakers were expected to come this far since the beginning of the regular season, while the Heat have been a surprise in the bubble, making an astonishing appearance as the Eastern Conference representatives. Both of these rosters are very different from one another and we’ll break down these matchups and what each team needs to do to win this series. 

Los Angeles Lakers Keys

Everybody knows that the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis will produce major numbers in this highly anticipated finals matchup, but the keys for the Lakers extend further then just these two if they want to win another championship. 

1) The Three Ball

The Lakers have been shooting the three-ball pretty efficiently throughout the postseason, especially compared to the regular season bubble games. Being a team that lacks any true three-point snipers, players like Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, and Alex Caruso are going to have to be able to make their three-point shots. The Heat’s defensive focus will be on LeBron James and Anthony Davis, so they will get a lot of open looks from behind the arc. Rondo and KCP have been shooting very efficiently from the 3-point line this postseason, putting up averages of 45% and 42% respectively. Danny Green initially started the postseason off cold but has picked it up as of late, while Kyle Kuzma on the other hand really needs to start hitting his stride at this point if he wants to win his first ring. 

2) Veteran Experience

The Lakers boast the most experienced team in the NBA, with players like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, JR Smith, and Danny Green leading the charge. Meanwhile, the Heat have one of the youngest, least experienced teams, with Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, Bam Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson all playing prominent roles for the Heat throughout the postseason. LeBron James, by himself, has more finals appearances than the whole Miami Heat roster. This veteran experience will have to carry over heavily for the Lakers to help them win this matchup. Knowing not to get too high or too low throughout the series will help the Lakers take advantage of an inexperienced team like the Heat. 

3) Size

To show the drastic size advantage the Lakers have over the Miami Heat, below is a list of the five starters for each team, including the two players that get the most minutes off the bench below:

MIAMI HEAT

Goran Dragic: 6’3”

Jimmy Butler: 6’7 “

Jae Crowder: 6’6”

Duncan Robinson: 6’7”

Bam Adebayo: 6’9”

Tyler Herro: 6’5”

Andre Igoudala: 6’6”

LA LAKERS

Lebron James: 6’9”

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: 6’5”

Danny Green: 6’6”

Anthony Davis: 6’10”

Dwight Howard: 6’11”

Kyle Kuzma: 6’8”

Alex Caruso: 6’5”

Miami Heat Keys

The Miami Heat have shown a tremendous amount of heart and hustle throughout this postseason, and we can expect their effort to be at 100% throughout the entirety of this series. But, to keep up with the Lakers, the Heat are gonna have to do a lot more than just play with effort if they want to hold the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season. 

1) Goran Dragic

Never in my life would I expect Goran Dragic to be the number one key to a team winning the NBA Championship, but here we are, and here he is as the number one key for the Miami Heat to win the 2020 NBA championship. While the Lakers are built around their dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James shouldering most of the work, while everyone else is expected to contribute a minimal amount, the Heat are built differently. They rely on six different players scoring double digits, using their whole team as a collective unit to win their ball games. However, even though the Heat don’t rely on one player to carry their team, Goran Dragic has been playing out of his mind during the playoffs, leading the Heat with 20.9 points per game. F Goran Dragic can keep this performance up, they will have a great chance of beating the Lakers, but my prediction is that LeBron will be guarding him, so we’ll see what he can do. On the defensive side of the ball, Dragic is going to guard someone bigger than him throughout the entirety of the series. Will he be able to play well defensively and contribute on that end of the floor? Or will he get bullied and become a liability for the team? Dragic’s performance in this series will have a major impact on this series, and I’m intrigued to see how he’ll perform in his first NBA finals. 

2) The Young Stars

The Miami Heat have relied heavily on the success of their three young studs this postseason. Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo have combined to play six seasons in the NBA throughout their career. Meanwhile, we have LeBron James on the other side who has played a total of 17 seasons and has 10 finals appearances. The lack of experience from the Miami Heat sign could be troubling… we will see if the lights are too bright for these inexperienced, young players during the series. 

3) Interior Defense

Other than Bam Adebayo, the Heat don’t particularly have a big man to throw at Anthony Davis or Dwight Howard in this series. Even with Bam, he isn’t really known to be a defensive monster, and still struggles with his smaller frame. The Heat will most likely go into the zone offense we’ve been used to seeing throughout these playoffs, and their ability to play good interior defense in the paint will be a big determining factor on whether or not the Miami Heat will be able to pull off the upset over the Lakers. 

Prediction

I think the Los Angeles Lakers combination of veteran experience, size, and talent, will be too much for the Miami Heat to overcome in this series. The Heat have made a good run, maybe they can steal one or two games, but I just don’t see them winning four games against LeBron James and the Lakers. 

TIM’S PREDICTION: Lakers in 5

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Lakers in 6

AJ’S PREDICTION: Lakers in 6

CADE’S PREDICTION: Heat in 7

Follow Timothy on Twitter @timothyan1