The 2020 Finals will see the top seed in the West, the Los Angeles Lakers take on the 5th seed from the East in the Miami Heat. Los Angeles comes in having finished with a 52-19 record, best in the Western Conference. Once the playoffs started, the Lakers needed five games each to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, and the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. This marks the 32nd appearance in the finals for the Lakers, who have 16 wins, their last coming in 2010.
As for the Heat, they finished with the 5th best record in the East, going 44-29 during the regular season. Once the playoffs started, the Heat swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, upset the first seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the third seed Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. This marks the 6th ever appearance in the finals for the Heat, who have three titles, the last coming in 2013. With the Heat reaching the finals, it marks the first time that a 5th seed or lower has come out of the East since the 1999 New York Knicks
The Lakers won both meetings between the two clubs during the regular season. Its worth noting that this is the first time ever that the teams facing off in the NBA finals missed the playoffs the year before.
It's funny that LeBron's first finals appearance in Los Angeles is against the team that got him his first two NBA crowns in Miami. This is not, by any stretch, taking away from what the Heat have had to go through to get to this point. Sweeping Indiana, then pulling off a five game upset of the Bucks and closing out conference play in a tough six game series against the Celtics. Two of the big reasons that the Heat are here have been Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic, both of whom have been playing at an all star level. Its rubbed off on the rest of this Heat club, as Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson have started to take their games to the next level. Bam just dropped a double double in the game six win over Boston. This Heat club has a solid mix of vets and youth to be able to control some of the play. They've been doing it all with the mindset of winning right now.
But here in lies a problem. They are going up against a very good and very top heavy Lakers club. Both Anthony Davis and LeBron James have been playing like their usual selves, and being very dominating at that. And lets not forget about Dwight Howard, who has been a big factor for LA, as much at times as Davis and James. And they've had scoring added in from guys like Kyle Kuzma and Dion Waiters as well. There's not much else to really say about how good the Lakers have been this year that hasn't already been said. The size advantage that ht Lakers have could be put to a greater use against the Heat.
It really has been an amazing run for the Heat this year. They've made the finals for the first time since 2013 and surprised a lot in the basketball world by even getting this far. I think that the luck is finally going to run out on them. No doubt that they young guns in Miami are going to cause a bit of a problem for LA, but the Lakers are just too good. With the way both Davis and James have been playing in the playoffs, they look almost impossible to stop.
Pick: Lakers in 6!
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