The Los Angeles Lakers will aim to win the championship by taking down the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. While it’s well-known LeBron James will be the focus of this series— there is some belief that Anthony Davis could be the deciding factor.
The impact Davis has made for the Lakers since the start of his tenure has been apparent. His skill-set when paired with James has made the best duo in the NBA— something the Heat will have to solve for in this series.
According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, an NBA coach told him the Lakers will win the NBA Finals and it will be Davis that will be the ‘driving force’ that helps make it happen. A key reason for that is the Heat not having. to previously go up against an elite big man.
“It comes down to matchups. For the Lakers to be victorious, I think Anthony Davis is still the key and the driving force that gets them over the hump. He’s just a different dynamic weapon that Miami has to guard that they didn’t (have to) guard when they played Boston.
“I know Boston has talented players and skilled wings in (Jayson) Tatum and (Jaylen) Brown, but when you’ve got a guy who’s 7 feet tall and demands the ball in the scoring area — the post, mid-post, the pinch-post/elbow area, the top of the key — and you can get a special guy in those areas and he can be efficient in those areas, that’s very tough to guard. That’s why you marvel at Kawhi (Leonard), LeBron and K.D. (Kevin Durant) — all these guys who have done it in the midrange. I think this is where the game is going to be won, and I think for the Lakers to kick down that door and be victorious, I think it has to be Anthony Davis.
It will be fascinating to see how the Lakers handle the Heat’s defensive game plan. It’s likely Miami will look to use zone at some point and it will be crucial for Davis to be in the middle of that— applying substantial pressure on the defense is successful.
If Davis is able to thrive against the Heat’s zone defense, the Lakers will be able to open up their attack against anything that’s thrown their way. Expect James to frequently utilize his passing ability to exploit this area with Davis as the play finisher.
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