The Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat will meet again tonight from 10 p.m. (ESPN television) for the fourth game of the series, an always key game in the development of the NBA Finals, which this time could lead to a 3-1 lead for LeBron James and co. or a 2-2 draw for those led by Jimmy Butler.
Miami comes from taking the neck out of the rope last Sunday by winning unexpectedly 115-104 in the Disney “bubble”, Orlando. With the absence of two members of his trio of figures -the pivot Bam Adebayo and the point guard Goran Dragic- the one who took his face for his own was Butler, who knocked her out with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. The guard became the third player in history to sign a triple-double with 40 or more points, behind Jerry West (42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in the 1969 edition) and James himself (40, 14 and 11 in 2015). Both West and James were defeated in those Finals, with their respective Lakers (against Boston) and Cleveland (against Golden State).
“They’re in trouble, they’re in trouble,” Butler snapped at the Lakers players -especially LeBron- after reaching 40 points with a double in the absence of just over a minute of play, and with a difference of nine in favor of Miami on the scoreboard. The truth is without Adebayo or Dragic – they have already lost two games – Miami has it very complicated.
“I’m doing everything I can. I feel better than when it happened, but you have to see. I still don’t have a return date … The only thing I can do for now is continue with the treatment. I’m doing it every hour, “the Slovenian guard, who suffered an injury to plantar fasciitis in his left foot in the first game of the series, commented on Monday. For his part, Adebayo is not discharged from his neck discomfort after colliding with Dwight Howard also at the start of the Finals. “It depends on the medical team. I’m trying to get back as quickly as possible,” he said.
Beyond the historic task of Butler and the pleasant appearance of Canadian Kelly Olynyk (second scorer of the team with 20.5 points in the last two games in the absence of Adebayo) in Miami, much of his triumph was supported by the lax tasks of Los Angeles stars: Anthony Davis (15 points and 5 rebounds) and James (8 losses to overshadow his 25 points). “I think the fouls (Davis was quickly loaded with infractions in the game) They stopped him a lot tonight, they forced him to play passively “, defined James, who will seek tonight to straighten the course of his Angels.
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