SHOP
Although the HEAT fought extremely hard to cut an 18-point third quarter deficit in half, they ultimately fell to the Lakers 124-114 Friday night at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando and are now down 2-0 in the NBA Finals.
Let’s take a look at some bright spots despite the result.
1. Jimmy Flirts With A Triple-Double
With both Goran Dragić and Bam Adebayo out, Jimmy Butler did all he could to try and will Miami to victory.
From the start, Butler put his head down, attacked the basket and made plays for himself and his teammates. As such, he flirted with a triple-double and dished out a playoff career-high 13 assists.
And while he set up his guys often and also rolled to the rim on a handful of possessions, he did the bulk of his work off the dribble on plays like this:
That wasn’t all, though, as Butler competed hard defensively in zone and man situations against LeBron James, too.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough in the end.
When it was all said and done, Butler amassed a team-high 25 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 from the line, eight boards and a steal to go along with his aforementioned game and playoff career-high 13 dimes in a whopping 44:45 of action.
2. KO Provides A Spark
Simply put, Kelly Olynyk moved very well off the ball and came through with some of his usual catch-and-shoot treys and crafty finishes inside.
Perhaps his best sequence of the night came on this tough bucket with contact against James late in the third:
In all, Olynyk tallied 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-7 from deep, a team-high nine boards and two assists.
3. Nunn With The Block
Kendrick Nunn did his usual damage offensively thanks to some aggressive takes to the basket, but his most impressive play came on the defensive end when he blocked Anthony Davis in the fourth.
Yes, you read that right.
Nunn finished with 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line, four rebounds, three assists and that block above.
Other Takeaways:
-Tyler Herro became the youngest player to start a Finals game, scored from all three levels and racked up 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, seven boards and three assists.
Game Note:
-Kyle Alexander, Dragić (Left Foot Torn Plantar Fascia), KZ Okpala and Gabe Vincent (Right Knee Soreness) were inactive. Adebayo (Neck Strain) was an active scratch.
Looking Ahead:
-Game 3 will be on Sunday at 7:30PM. While the game will exclusively be on ABC, you can catch the pre and postgame shows on either FOX Sports Sun or HEAT.com.