Lakers leading Heat 2-0 heading into Game 3
LAKEBUENAVISTA, FLA. » For the Los Angeles Lakers, the mission is simple: Get two more wins and become NBA champions.
For the Miami Heat, the mission may be even more simple: Get one win and make this a series.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is tonight, the Lakers holding a 2-0 lead in the title matchup — putting the franchise within reach of a record-tying 17th championship, LeBron James closer to his fourth ring and Anthony Davis perhaps a few days away from his first crown. They know desperation is coming from a banged-up Miami team, since Game 3 is almost certainly a must for the Heat.
“We’re never giving up,” Heat forward Jimmy Butler said. “We’re going to fight and we’re going to ride with this thing until the wheels fall off. It’s not over. We’re just down 0-2, so we’ve got to do something special. We’re capable of it and I wouldn’t want to be in the trenches with any other guys except for the ones that we have.”
Thing is, Butler isn’t certain which guys will be in those trenches today.
All-Star center Bam Adebayo missed Game 2 with neck and shoulder problems, while starting point guard Goran Dragic also couldn’t play because of a torn left plantar fascia. Adebayo is hopeful that he could bewell enough to play today; Dragic wants desperately to be out there as well, but the Heat have concerns about how painful it would be for him.
Saturday was scheduled to be a day of more roundthe- clock treatment for Dragic and Adebayo. If the Heat get either of them back, it’s a bonus.
“We can either fold or fight like the Miami Heat do ,” rookie guard Tyler Herro said. “We know what kind of team we are. We know what we are capable of. Next game, we are going to fight andmake some plays. It’s not going to be easy.”
The Lakers also say the same.
The biggest stat differences in the first two games are the Lakers outscoring the Heat by 27 points from 3-point range and a 25-11 edge so far in offensive rebounding.