The Lakers have the two best players in the game right now. In fact, the dup of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has been performing at a record level throughout the Orlando games. But beyond those two, LA has plenty of role players that are capable of stepping up on any given night. For those who still weren’t convinced, Wednesday’s beat down of the Miami Heat served as a reminder of the depth the Los Angeles Lakers have.
While LeBron and AD can combine for 60 points on any given night, the remaining production has to come from the rest of the role players that the Lakers have assembled.
Last night, that production came from Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and quite literally the entire bench.
Green and KCP combined to give the Lakers 24 points on 5 of 14 shooting from downtown, but it was their timely defense that truly made a difference in this game. The two wing defenders combined to give the Lakers 4 steals and 4 blocks on the night, effectively shutting down Miami’s 3-point snipers in Herro and Robinson.
It’s been said before, but whenever the Lakers are able to win the three-point battle, it’s effectively game over and that is precisely what happened in Game one.
The @Lakers shoot an efficient 11-17 from 3-point land in the opening half of Game 1 on ABC!#LakeShow #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/XeZunZZLlY
— NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
The Lakers bench was also a deciding factor in this one, as Rondo, Kuzma, Morris, and Caruso all had solid performances on the night. Kuzma, in particular, looked very comfortable all game long in more of a distributor role. While he only had 3 points in the game, his rebounding and ball movement helped create opportunities for others to score consistently. If he continues to play this unselfishly, this Lakers bench unit will continue to fire on all cylinders.
Final Thoughts
It’s only been one game, but this series looks similar to all the others that the Lakers have gone through in these playoffs. Miami is an excellent team, but they just don’t have the size and depth of this Lakers team.
As a parting thought, I’ll leave you with this LeBron clip with his thoughts on how the team played in Game 1. If the Lakers take these words to heart and improve on the few mishaps from the first encounter, this series will be over before Miami can say 1, 2, 3, Cancún!
“I liked the way we played in that second, third quarter. But the way we ended, that’s unacceptable.” – @KingJames pic.twitter.com/VEhhGFFkgW
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 1, 2020