Anthony Davis will be a problem for the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals
Largely responsible for the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first appearance in the NBA Finals since 2010, Anthony Davis will get to compete for a championship for the first time in his eight-year career.
Of course, the Lakers have megastar LeBron James who is a matchup nightmare and arguably the most unguardable player in the NBA, but considering the potential damage Davis is capable of doing could be catastrophic to the Miami Heat‘s hopes of winning a title.
Davis is no doubt a generational talent who has been historically great as he awaits his chance to continue his quest to add a championship to his Hall of Fame-worthy resume. During this run to the Finals, Davis has averaged 28.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 blocks per game. The great players always elevate their level of play in the postseason and Davis has done just that.
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Davis has been a model of efficiency and it’s not hard to imagine that his bewildering stats could actually be better in the NBA Finals. Do the Heat have any players on their roster who could at least slow Davis’s production? They do have Bam Adebayo who probably gives the Heat a puncher’s chance.
Davis and Adebayo have faced off six times during the regular season with Davis’s team prevailing four out of six times. Four of those six games were when Davis was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans as Adebayo didn’t fare well during those matchups allowing two games of 40-plus points from Davis.
In the two games against Adebayo this season as a member of the Lakers, Davis averaged 29.5 points, nine rebounds, four assists, one steal, and three blocks per contest. This comparison isn’t a knock on Adebayo because he is considered to be one of the elite defenders in the league, but that just displays the difficulty in trying to contain Davis.
The Heat may try to use a combination of Adebayo, Kelly Olynyk, Jimmy Butler, and Jae Crowder to double team Davis at times, but he is equipped with a high passing IQ and would make the Heat pay as he is adept at finding open teammates. The Heat may also try and deploy a zone that has been effective in these playoffs as seen against MVP Giannis Antetoukoumpo when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The goal may be to keep Davis out of the paint, but it might not make a difference due to Davis’s silky smooth and efficient mid-range jump shot. The Lakers run their offense through Davis as he is the focal point of their offense. He is a dynamic scoring threat who handles the ball like a guard, can shoot the floater, can finish with either hand, and can even shoot it from long range.
Davis’s athleticism makes him dangerous on both ends of the floor. He is an elite rim protector and uses his length as an asset to cut off passing lanes and alter attempted layups and shots at the rim. The way he impacts the game on the defensive end of the floor catapults the Lakers from average to the next level. James has called Davis his “best teammate ever” and it’s easy to understand his logic.
Davis takes the pressure off of James by doing the dirty work early in games. That way, James can conserve his energy and attack defenses whenever he feels the need to take over especially in the fourth quarter. Also, when James goes to the bench, he doesn’t have to worry about his team relinquishing the lead because Davis is more than capable of holding and sustaining leads. There isn’t a reason not to anticipate that Davis won’t put on a dominating performance in these NBA Finals. Davis has set himself apart from the other big men in the league as he makes it look easy at times.
The stage is set for Davis to have his name mentioned among the likes of Bill Russell, Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and other legendary players pending his performance. Great things are expected from great players as Davis is on a mission and won’t be satisfied until he is holding that Larry O’Brien trophy high as the confetti falls from the ceiling.