USA Today via Reuters
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra directs his team against the Boston Celtics as forward Jae Crowder and forward Jimmy Butler react during the first half of game three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra directs his team against the Boston Celtics as forward Jae Crowder and forward Jimmy Butler react during the first half of game three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It now seems that the Gods of Basketball are not ready to back the Miami Heat anytime soon. They entered Game 2 carrying swords against the Lakers, who were ready with battle tanks. Bam Adebayo (shoulder injury) and Goran Dragic (torn plantar fascia) were ruled out. The onus of shooting came on Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson.
Jimmy scored 11 points, 5 rebs, and 8 assists by the first half. He received some support from both Jae Crowder and rookie Tyler Herro, who added 9 each in two quarters. Meyers Leonard started as a center with only 9 minutes of prior playoff experience in this season. Safe to say that they were in thick soup.
USA Today via Reuters
Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson during the second quarter in game two of the 2020 NBA Finals. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
When Miami Heat head coach lost his cool
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Heat’s shooting specialist, D-Bo, managed just 3 points each in the first three quarters. His 22 minutes of play was plagued by hits and misses. When the franchise is 0-1 down with two key players sitting out, this is not how a player of his caliber can play.
This was enough to irritate the head coach Erik Spoelstra as he got provoked and relieved his anger by shouting, “Shoot the F—ing Ball”.
Erik Spoelstra just screamed to Duncan Robinson: "Shoot the (bleepin) ball!!" #Heat #Lakers #NBAFinals
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) October 3, 2020
Appears Erik Spoelstra just told Duncan Robinson to “shoot the f—ing ball.”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 3, 2020
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Duncan came from G-League and entered the NBA late in his career. Nevertheless, the hype around him was huge, thanks to the fact that he led his college team to a championship win in 2018. The man is known more for his three-point shooting accuracy than anything else.
But the fact is also that his shooting from behind the arc has been poor against the Lakers in the NBA Finals. He scored zero three-pointers in Game 1 and lacked precision in Game 2.
The Lakers are proving unstoppable!
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Until the third quarter, Anthony Davis had accumulated 30 points to his name while LeBron James had 23. But the story of Q1 was Dwight Howard, who is now regularly starting for the Lakers. He scored 6 points, 2 rebs, and 1 assist in Q1 and was a force inside the paint. Him being in a superman mode set a tone for the Lakers that they carried and did not allow the Heat to come any closer to them.
The Lakers came out in the Mamba jerseys and it looked obvious that they came prepared to play a Miami side that might have Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. So, it all got easier and easier for them as the game began and went further.
