I’m all in on the Heat pulling off the upset in this series and that starts with taking them + 5 points in game 1.
They’ve been the best team in the NBA throughout the playoffs and will be a definite step up in quality for the Lakers to face.
They’re the deeper of these two sides and they match up relatively well with the Lakers star players.
I also think they’ve got the coaching edge in this series and would back Spoelstra to come out with the better game plan.
The Lakers are heavily reliant on the 3-ball and they’re trusting a lot of players that don’t make them efficiently.
Miami is a much better defensive team than the likes of Portland, Houston, and Denver and I think the Lakers will struggle to get the same quality looks.
If their small ball lineup can force the Lakers bigs off the floor, they’ve got a good shot at the upset here.
In what should be a close one down the stretch, I’ll take the 5 points of insurance with Miami.