THE MATCHUPS
The Post’s Brian Lewis breaks down how the Lakers and Heat match up across the board ahead of their NBA Finals series, starting Wednesday:
POINT GUARD
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope vs. Goran Dragic
While King James is listed as the Lakers’ lead guard — and clearly is their leader — Caldwell-Pope will handle a lot of that grunt work on Dragic, especially with Avery Bradley having opted out of the restart and Rajon Rondo coming off the bench. Dragic has been great for Miami in the playoffs, averaging a teamhigh 20.9 points, 4.7 assists and 4.2 boards. But for the Heat to have any chance, the longtime holdover will have to keep that up, and then some. Edge: Heat
SHOOTING GUARD
Danny Green vs. Duncan Robinson
Robinson is one of the X factors for Miami who could easily come up big with a surprise performance and start raining 3-pointers. He poured in 20 points in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, and added 15 on 5 of 7 from deep to eliminate the Celtics on Sunday. If he can make James work on defense, that would be a huge help for the Heat. Green has hit some big 3s himself before in the playoffs with San Antonio, but his role with Los Angeles is different. Lakers coach Frank Vogel will probably deploy him defensively on Jimmy Butler to spare James that burden.
Edge: Even
SMALL FORWARD
LeBron James vs. Jimmy Butler
Butler summed up the road to the title simply: “You have to go through [James] at 26, at 36 and probably at 49. But if anybody is up to the task, the Miami Heat are.” Not all edges are equal, and this one tilts heavily towards Los Angeles. James’ dominant tripledouble (38 points, 16 boards and 10 assists) eliminated Denver, his 16 points in the fourth quarter showing how unstoppable he is in the clutch. Miami will have to run bodies at him, with Andre Iguodala admitting, “You’re guarding the top talent ever.” But this won’t be a straight-up head-to-head matchup. The Lakers can run Caldwell-Pope and Green at Butler, while James will get an easier job on defense, resting against either Robinson or Jae Crowder Edge: Lakers
POWER FORWARD
Anthony Davis vs. Jae Crowder
The Heat started Crowder at power forward against Boston, but their choice against the Lakers is still unclear. They can use Crowder, Butler and Iguodala to try to stop — OK, let’s be real, slow — James. But Davis could be the X factor who tilts the series. Davis’ dominance was already obvious before he went out and rolled through the Western Conference foes, averaging 28.8 points on 57.1 percent shooting. Will Miami be forced to use Bam Adebayo on Davis? If he plays the four instead of Crowder, it could lead to more minutes for the likes of Kelly Olynyk or Derrick Jones Jr. Edge: Lakers
CENTER
Dwight Howard vs. Bam Adebayo
Adebayo is bigger than anybody Houston could muster, and quicker than anybody Portland and Denver had to offer. He’s a great one-on-one defender, shown in his game-saving block on Jayson Tatum to clinch Game 1 of the Eastern
Conference finals. And he’s every bit as physical as Denver’s Nikola Jokic (who backed Davis down often during the series) but more athletic. The matchup will be fascinating to watch. While Davis is stellar at center, the Lakers have increasingly gone big with him at power forward and either JaVale McGee or Howard in the pivot. Vogel pulled McGee at halftime of Game 3 and Howard has been the starter since, averaging a doubledouble on 80 percent shooting. Does he match up with Adebayo?
Edge: Heat
BENCH
In the playoffs, these benches aren’t as much about quantity as they are quality. The Lakers’ bench has veteran Rondo running the second unit, but can he and Green hit shots when Miami inevitably packs the paint against James and Davis? Miami has Kendrick Nunn, Olynyk and Jones Jr. But most of all they have Tyler Herro and Iguodala. Iguodala averaged a career-low 4.6 points this season and was just 7 of 27 from deep this postseason before Game 6, but he brings the experience of six straight Finals and vital defense on James. Back in the 2015 Finals, James shot just 33 percent with Iguodala on him, and 38 percent with him on the court. The Heat need that defense from him, and offensive punch from Herro (37 points and five 3s to win Game 4 against Boston). Edge: Even
COACH
Frank Vogel is a fine coach, but he’s been outfoxed by Spoelstra in the playoffs before while with Indiana. Yes, King James is on the other side now, but in a pure coaching matchup, Spo has the edge. He usually does. In his fifth Finals, going for his third ring, Spoelstra is finally in a position to get just due as one of the very best the game has to offer. The Clippers, Rockets and Thunder parted ways with elite coaches such as Doc Rivers, Mike D’Antoni and Billy Donovan all during this postseason, but Spoelstra is still kicking, the second-longest tenured coach in the NBA. “The players and the coaches know how great Spo is,” James said. “It’s been [the media] that’ve changed the narrative and never gave him the respect he deserves.” Edge: Heat
PREDICTION
Lakers in 6
Miami’s attention to detail, defense and winning culture helped thrash Giannis Antetokounmpo and topseeded Milwaukee, and Boston put up only slightly more challenge. But while the Heat have some slight edges in multiple positions, they don’t have King James and the Lakers do.