It has been a long road to this year’s NBA finals and indeed the two teams that are taking centre stage have truly worked hard to earn their spots in the finals.
For many bettors, betting on basketball has been a rewarding investment as this year’s playoff unfolded with all its intrigues.
The face-off between the champions of the Eastern Conference, Miami Heat, and the champions of the Western Conference, Los Angeles Lakers, has some very interesting plots to it.
It is interesting to see one of the stars of the game in LeBron James square up against his former team and indeed there will be no shortage of emotional display when the final game ends and the winner emerges.
LeBron was instrumental to Miami Heat winning 2 of their 3 tittles so far and now; he will be a stumbling block in the chase for their 4th Championship since 2013.
Also, it is no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers team will be hoping to win this title in memory of Kobe Bryant, an icon of the team and the game who died in a helicopter crash with his daughter and other passengers last year.
The first game of the finals saw the LA Lakers record a win over the Miami Heat with a score line of 98 -116.
The Lakers dominated every area of the game which was played in the Orlando bubble. Anthony Davis and LeBron James stole the show with Davis leading the pack with 34 points; Lebron scored 25 points and 13
rebounds in this first game.
From the first quarter of the game, the Lakers never looked back as they won the first quarter by 28 -31 points, by second quarter it was 48 -65, the third was 67 – 93, and then the fourth and final quarter ended at 98 – 116.
The result leaves Miami Heat with a mountain to climb, although it is not an impossible task giving how they have fared all through the series.
It would be recalled that the road to the finals was quite an intriguing one for both teams as Miami Heat took out Eastern conference opponents like the Indiana Pacers in 4 straight games, the highly rated Milwaukee Bucks in 4 games to 1, and then the 6 games thriller with the Boston Celtics which ended by 4 games to 2.
The Los Angeles Lakers on the other hand dominated the Western conference beating Portland by 4 games to 1, Houston Rockets by 4 games to 1, and then the Denver Nuggets by 4 games to 1.
The fact that the finals is being played in a single location for the first time in the history of the NBA finals thus giving no home advantage to any team, may not be of any advantage to Miami Heat as they contend with major injury concerns from the first game.
One of the star performers of the team, Bam Adebayo left the first game with a shoulder injury while Goran Dragic also withdrew with a foot injury.
This development may likely leave the bulk of the load on Jimmy Butler who alongside Adebayo has been impressive all through the series.
The Los Angeles Lakers are bubbling with confidence even before the first game with LeBron making his 10th appearance in the NBA Finals, Davis averaging 29.9 points per game in his play-off career so far, and the team attempting to win their 17th NBA Championship to tie with the Boston Celtics for most titles in the history
of the league.
So then, who wins the 2020 title? There is a lot to play for and so much betting opportunities to explore in the remaining games, but the odds indeed favors the Los Angeles Lakers to take this year’s title.