The Los Angeles Lakers are not yet NBA champions, far from it, but it’s still damn good off. The Californians won Game 1 with disconcerting ease, which was not at all a guarantee based on the history of LeBron James, their leader, in the opening matches of the Finals in his career.
If the King was champion three times having reached the Finals nine times before this 10th participation against the Miami Heat, he had taken the bad habit of seeing his team bite the dust from the entrance. It was not the case last night and LeBron James made sure of it by passing close to the triple-double (25 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists) to accompany the Anthony Davis show.
The Lakers start off in style with a landslide victory!
LeBron was therefore 1-8 in game 1 of the Finals before this walk in the park. His only career victory in this context dates back to 2011, with an entry success against the Dallas Mavericks. We know what happened next with the coronation of the band to Dirk Nowitzki and the liquefaction of LeBron James and his comrades.
The Lakers star made it perfectly clear to the press after the game that he and his teammates “weren’t happy with just one victory” and that the “job was not done yet”. An approach which, coupled with the physical glitches encountered by the Heat, who lost Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic along the way, should allow LA to continue these Finals in the right way.
LeBron James’ team history in game 1 of the Finals
2007 NBA Finals against the Spurs (4-0 loss): 85-76 loss in Game 1
2011 NBA Finals against the Mavs (4-2 loss): 92-84 victory in Game 1
2012 NBA Finals against the Thunder (4-1 victory): 105-94 loss in game 1
2013 NBA Finals against Spurs (4-3 victory): 92-88 loss in Game 1
NBA Finals 2014 against the Spurs (loss 4-1): loss 110-95 in game 1
NBA Finals 2015 against the Warriors (loss 4-2): loss 108-100 in game 1
2016 NBA Finals against the Warriors (4-3 victory): 104-89 loss in Game 1
NBA Finals 2017 against the Warriors (loss 4-1): loss 113-91 in game 1
NBA Finals 2018 against the Warriors (loss 4-0): loss 124-114 in game 1
NBA 2020 Finals against the Heat: 116-98 victory in game 1
