James, Davis Lead the Lakers to a Win in Game 2 vs. Miami Heat, 124-114

Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat following last night’s 124-114 victory.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers who were against the injury-crippled Heat. Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo didn’t play, which was a massive setback for the team from Florida. With Dragic’s participation int he series on the line, Adebayo should be back for Game 3.

But even with these two guys in the lineup, many doubt that the Heat could have won this Friday. Davis and James were superb on both ends, combining for 65 points.

“They both have that elite ability to score and to read defense… those two were huge tonight,” said Frank Vogel after the game. “Those guys are playing at an extremely high level, and hopefully we can get two more wins.”

James was one board and assist shy of a triple-double, posting 33 points besides that. Davis had one point fewer but was fantastic in the attack, hitting 15 of his 20 field-goal attempts. Besides that, AD posted 14 rebounds, eight of them in the attack.

“We’re two guys who want to win… we both want to be sure that we do whatever it takes to help our team wins,” said Davis.

Lakers shifted into a higher gear at the start of the second period, and even though the Heat responded midway through the same, the purple and gold game a furious ending of the first half. They kept on pounding in the third, reaching the highest lead of the game in that period, 84-66. After that, there was no way back for the Heat, who could just watch as the second game slips away from them.

Adebayo’s defensive effort under and around the rim was missed greatly, and Davis used that in the best possible way. Overall, the Heat’s defensive performance was not good at all, and even though their players played well in the attack, they couldn’t match the Lakers’ intensity of play.

“Maybe we’ve just got to play a lot harder, to know that’s how we’re going to squeak out a win in the end,” Jimmy Butler said. “There really isn’t too much to say to our guys. We understand what we have to do.”

Butler had an excellent game for the Heat, scoring 25 points, a team-high, with 13 assists and 8 rebounds. Jimmy B was 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. Kelly Olynik played a good game with 24 points and nine rebounds off the bench and replaced Adebayo in certain aspects of play, but he couldn’t restrain or at least neutralize Davis.

Tyler Herro became the youngest ever started in the NBA Finals with 20 years and 256 days, surpassing Magic Johnson for eight days. He did ok in this one with 17 points and seven boards. Kendrick Nunn had 13 points and four boards, while Jae Crowder added 12 and seven rebounds.

“Look, I love these guys. I love the way we compete,” Erik Spoelstra said. “We have to figure out how to overcome this and get over the top.”

It seems that for the moment, Heat doesn’t have a solution on how to stop the James-Davis duo. The other players in the Lakers team are nothing more than sidekicks who can’t take the responsibility in the clutch moment. Last night Rondo had a solid role off the bench with 16 points and 10 assists, Caldwell-Pope and Kuzma added 11 each.

The next game is set for this Sunday.