data-mm-id=”_8yklj1oaf”>The Los Angeles Lakers will face off against the Miami Heat in the strangest NBA Finals in history. Similar to the Eastern Conference Finals, it will be a tale of two teams: one loaded with lottery-caliber talent in Los Angeles and one greater than the sum of its parts in Miami. Jimmy Butler will take on LeBron James. Bam Adebayo will face his biggest test to date against Anthony Davis. The biggest contrast between the two squads comes in the form of their preferred method of offense. The Heat love to shoot three-pointers. They averaged 35.4 attempts from deep per game during the regular season and made 37.9 percent of them, good for second in the league behind the Utah Jazz. The Lakers, meanwhile, are… not of the same mindset. They attempted only 31 per game in the regular season, placing them 23rd in the NBA, and made only 34.9 percent of those attempts. The Heat will struggle to take away what the Lakers do best, which is score inside the three-point arc. Adebayo is an excellent defender but is giving up a bit in size to Davis, and Butler is in the same boat as the likely primary defender on James. Los Angeles, on the other hand, is entirely capable of making Miami's life miserable from beyond the arc with their defensive IQ and length. The Lakers' lives will be much easier if they can do it. That ability will determine just how close this series is. During the regular season, the Lakers were good at preventing success from the three-point line, allowing only 34.9 percent shooting from deep. In the playoffs, though, it's been a slightly different story. Opposing squads have shot 36.2 percent from three over the first three rounds in the Orlando bubble against Los Angeles. That increase of success may be marginal, but it makes all the difference in the playoffs. The Lakers did play three very good three-point shooting teams over those first three rounds in Portland, Houston, and Denver, but letting the Heat hit 36 percent of their threes will not make for an easy road to success. For all the mistakes the Boston Celtics made in the ECF, Brad Stevens teams are traditionally excellent defending the three-point line, and that was proven correct again over the last six games. Miami only hit 32 percent of their threes in the series. They still won, obviously, but it required multiple double-digit comebacks and really only one comfortable win, the final Game 6 victory where the Celtics gave up in the last two minutes and their three-point percentage was buoyed by a throwback performance from Andre Iguodala. That's the blueprint to beating Miami– take away the three-pointer and force them to find point production via tough drives into the paint and long jumpers. Los Angeles could very well win easily even if they don't do that. Such is the power of having LeBron and AD as your one-two punch. The Heat can and will make life difficult for them, but will be unable to fall back on schemes like the 2-3 zone they used to shut down Boston. That'll put their lesser defenders, like Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic, front-and-center, especially with LeBron's propensity to ruthlessly hunt such players to create mismatches. But it will be on the Lakers' guards and wings to do the same to Miami. If the Heat find even moderate success from beyond the arc, they'll keep it close until the fourth quarter. And as we saw in the Boston series, the Heat know how to close. Whether they're down 10 or up 12, they will produce in crunchtime minutes. The key is to get far enough ahead that it doesn't play nearly as big of a factor. Having a big lead in the fourth– incredible basketball insight, I know. But the Lakers will win this series if they can lock it down from beyond the arc. It's a tall task, but doable. And an important one, as all the numbers suggest.
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This should be an intriguing game between two teams with plenty to fight for. Liverpool will not have given up on the possibility of sneaking into the top four, despite their odds of being able to do that have gone to 16/1. West Ham are looking a bit better after the last couple of weeks but if they have a bad result and the teams below them get a result then they are right back in the relegation mix.
Rafa Benitez has had a torrid time this season and when you look at the investment in the squad last summer it is easy to see why. It is only now that top players Torres and Gerrard have been performing that results have picked up. It might be too little too late, and things will be that little bit more difficult now that Torres appears to be unavailable again.
Gianfranco …
Italy´s rollercoaster: Sweden woe, Euro 2020 glory, record-breaking run and North Macedonia humiliat
Italy have failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup following a shock 1-0 defeat by North Macedonia on Thursday.
For the first time in their history, the Azzurri will miss out on successive finals after Aleksandar Trajkovski struck a stoppage-time winner at Renzo Barbera.
Roberto Mancini s side triumphed at Euro 2020 just eight months ago, defeating England on penalties in the final to claim their second title.
But four years after their playoff defeat by Sweden denied them a place in Russia, they will be absent in Qatar after suffering their first ever loss on home soil in a World Cup qualifier.
It is fair to say it has been quite the journey from one World Cup qualifying failure to another.
Swede success
Despite finishing behind Spain in…
Jurgen Klopp confirmed he once held talks with Napoli s chatty president Aurelio De Laurentiis about potentially becoming the club s coach prior to joining Liverpool.
De Laurentiis has previously spoken of his admiration for Klopp and reports have suggested they discussed a possible collaboration in 2013, when the German was still at Borussia Dortmund.
Rafael Benitez ended up taking the job and Klopp stayed put, but ahead of Tuesday s crunch Champions League clash against Napoli, the Liverpool manager admitted such a conversation took place.
When asked about De Laurentiis claims and whether he wants to coach in Italy one day, Klopp said: I still have a contract here, three and a half years, so I am not sure if anybody wants me after that.
Next up, …
The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers faced off against the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh shot itself in the foot (multiple times) en route to an upset home loss in last year’s AFC Divisional Round.
The Steelers’ first chance at revenge comes this year in Week 8 when they visit Cleveland as NFL betting underdogs. Both teams are dealing with a litany of injuries, so “who” takes the field on Sunday afternoon is just as important as “what” each team’s plan of attack is.
Here are our best free NFL picks and predictions for Steelers vs. Browns on Sunday, October 31, with kickoff at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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The 2022 NFL season kicks off with an absolute unit of a game Thursday night as the defending Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams, take on this season’s betting favorite to win it all in the Buffalo Bills.
With a total of 52.5 and on the indoor track of SoFi Stadium, scoring should come early and often. Matthew Stafford’s elbow injury might be an issue down the road, but not this early in the season. Both offenses have added solid pieces and can spread it around while the defenses lack depth — especially in the secondary for the visiting side.
With a potential shootout on our hands, the secondary receiving options for both teams project well while there is some value in the Bills’ goalline rushing game. Find out my three be…
The Indianapolis Colts were once a model franchise.
Between 2003 and 2014 the franchise won the NFC South nine times, made two Super Bowl appearances winning one, and losing in the AFC Championship Game twice more.
They employed the likes of Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and then drafted Andrew Luck in 2012 as their next franchise quarterback — we all know how that ended. Luck abruptly retired and the Colts were left spinning their wheels.
Since that 2019 season where they finished 7-9, things have been trending down. They went 9-8 in 2021 and then 4-12-1 last year which left everyone inside the organization with a sour taste in their mouth.
Their supposed workhorse running back, Jonathan Taylor now w…
The Buffalo Bills’ up-and-down season continued last week, as they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. Now, Buffalo finds itself as a heavy favorite in the MNF odds against a Denver Broncos team that suddenly finds itself on a two-game winning streak.
The Bills are a touchdown favorite according to the Week 10 odds, with Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense – which has received some criticism as of late – being the major reason why. Allen and his teammates are still among the most productive units in the NFL, while the Broncos may own the league’s worst defense.
We’ll take a deeper look at the Josh Allen odds as we give our best NFL picks for Broncos vs. Bills on November 13.
Be sure to also check out our Broncos…
Whether you look forward to the Super Bowl commercials each year or consider them little more than a convenient bathroom break, you can’t deny their enduring impact. Year after year, new and increasingly more expensive advertisements emerge to enthrall, entertain, and sell, sell, sell!
Join us as we look at the escalating cost of Super Bowl ads over the years and examine whether they’re actually a good investment for companies.
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A pair of struggling AFC East teams will go toe-to-toe when the Miami Dolphins visit the New England Patriots on Sunday.
While New England was expected to be bad, Miami has playoff aspirations, and my Dolphins vs. Patriots predictions and NFL picks are expecting the Fins to put another tick in the wins column on October 6.
Dolphins vs Patriots prediction
My best betDolphins moneyline (+100 at BetMGM)
My analysis
Although it’s been an ugly start to the season for the Miami Dolphins, I’m still confident head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tyler Huntley will have the offense in better shape Sunday following a full week of practice.
After all, it’s not as if the New England Patriots have been sharp on de…
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has unveiled his 23-man selection for the upcoming European Championships, where his team will be trying to defend their title.
Of the 23 players selected by the German manager, ten already represented the Greek team at Euro 2004, where Greece surprised all of Europe by taking the trophy.
Goalkeepers
Antonis Nikopolidis
Konstantinos Chalkias
Alexandros Tzorvas
Defenders
Giourkas Seitardis
Christos Patsatzoglou
Nikos Spyropoulos
Traianos Dellas
Loukas Vyntra
Vassilios Torosidis
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Ioannis Goumas
Paraskevas Antzas
Midfielders
Angelos Basinas
Stylianos Giannakopoulos
Georgios Karagounis
Ioannis Amanatidis
Konstantinos Katsouranis
Alexandros Tziolis
Attackers
Ge…