And then there were two.
We have almost made it to the end of the NBA Bubble experience, and the Los Angeles Lakers will go head to head with the Miami Heat.
If only these weren’t in COVID times, the two cities would be trying to outdo each other on the party front pre and post-game!
LeBron goes face to face against his former team, one in which he won back to back NBA Championships with not so long ago.
The team was also led by the current Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra, and you just know he’d love to get one over his former superstar.
The Lakers were led by LeBron and AD in their 4-1 victory over a gallant Denver Nuggets team, who could argue, were better in 3 of the 5 games in that series.
But the class of LeBron was too much for Denver to handle down the stretch, and that was the difference in the end.
It was a crazy playoff run for the Nuggets, and they’ll be looking to get as much help as they can for Jokic and Murray this coming offseason, to make another deep playoff run again next season.
Jimmy Butler had plenty of help in their 4-2 series win over the Boston Celtics. Bam Adebayo was a force inside against an undersized Boston line up, as well as the exceptional play of Goran Dragic, who looks to have found his groove in the Heat starting lineup.
Boston had their moments in the series against Miami, but you always felt the Heat were the better team.
Tatum and Brown played well for Boston, but the inconsistent play from the likes of Kemba and Hayward in this series hurt the Celts. Bench depth was also a huge issue for Boston, as the likes of Herro and Iguodala had a huge say for Miami.
Looking at the Heat Lakers series from a match-up standpoint, it’s very even.
The Lakers win on the superstar front, but this Miami team is playing with a chip on their shoulder, one that no one had them getting to this point of the season.
Jimmy Butler will put up his hand to match up against LeBron in this one, as well as being able to throw “the LeBron stopper” Andre Iguodala on him.
They may not be able to stop LeBron, but if they limit his output enough to force the likes of KCP, Green, Caruso, and Kuzma to hit shots consistently, it will go a long way to deciding the outcome of this series.
The matchup of Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo will also be amazing to watch. Bam has the mobility to go with Davis, something Denver didn’t have with Jokic and Plumlee. Foul trouble will be a huge talking point, and one Miami will want Bam to avoid.
I can see this series going the distance, and how fitting that would be that in 2020 in these crazy times, we get ourselves a Game 7 of the NBA Finals!
Prediction: Miami 4-3
Finals MVP: Jimmy Butler
Bauky