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Official 2020 NBA Offseason - First Half Season Schedule Out

PhDeac said:
Yeah. The Lakers will go small and Howard and McGee won't play much. AD and Bam will be matched up on each other. Butler on Lebron. Obviously, the Heat need both those guys to play next level defense. Will Kuzma go off? Are we going to see Herro ball?

So much is going to come down to the old guys. Rondo, Green, Iggy, Dragic.
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I think one of the main problems the Lakers will have is the Heat have no one that Lebron can just up and shut down, which takes away one of LA's best strengths. The Heat are very balanced. Herro goes for 37 one night, then the next night its Bam, then it's Robinson. It's not as simple as solving Jokic/Murray. Throw Lebron on Jimmy and he just chills out out of the picture and lets Dragic/Herro/Robinson go to work.

Then it's just a question whether Jimmy/Iggy can keep Lebron out of the paint.
 
Yeah. That's a good take. That's one reason why Rondo, Green, and KCP are so huge. If they can D up Dragic, Robinson, and Herro, they're in good shape. If Lebron has to play whack-a-mole with the hot hands, the Heat could get up on him. I don't like the Heat's chances. But Lebron has never faced a coach who knows him as well as Spo. I'm sure Pat Riley has some ideas too. And Iggy knows how to play him as well. It's going to be fun to watch the young Heat in the ultimate underdog role.

Hard to believe the NBA pulled it off. NBA Finals. Heat vs. Lakers in the bubble.

Is there any talk of bringing their home courts into the bubble? That would be a nice touch. Each team could have their own home arena.
 
Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Riley/Spo are going to be super motivated. And I mean I've watched pretty much every gave this postseason, the Heat just seem more cohesive. I just shat all over Iggy 2 days ago, today he goes 4/4 from 3 to win the game. I'm taking Dragic/Herro/Robinson/Crowder over Rondo/Green/KCP. Problem is I'm taking Lebron/AD over Jimmy/Bam, but I may be really under-selling Bam. I think the Heat plays Iggy alot and puts him on Lebron not caring if he gets in foul trouble. they can't put Jimmy on him primarily otherwise he's in foul trouble every game. So it comes down to whether Iggy or KCP makes more threes. Should be fun to watch.
 
The Heat supporting cast is better than the Lakers supporting cast. The problem is they have to stay better to maintain that edge. If playoff Rondo shows up or if 2013 Heat killing Finals Danny Green shows up, it’s game over.

By the way, I haven’t mentioned Caruso because he’s going to be where Lebron wants him. He’s going to finish when Lebron passes to him. He’s not an X factor. He’s going to be solid.
 
FWIW, the Lakers are massive favorites: Lakers are -360 and Heat are +300 (if you bet $100 on Miami, you win $300: you have to risk $360 to win $100 on the Lakers). Lakers are such a public team, but geez, those odds seem too steep considering the Heat are 12-3 in the playoffs, and have played the tougher teams (Pacers-Bucks- Celtics) as compared to the Lakers (Blazers-Rockets-Nugs).
 
It's hard to lose a series when you have the two best players on the court, especially when they're two of the top five players in the league. The gap between Lebron/AD and Butler/Bam is huge. There are plenty of reasons to think the games will be fun and competitive, but little reason to think the Heat will win.
 
not sure there's a pair of teammates better suited to guard Lebron-AD than Butler and Bam, with Iggy on Lebron some too

maybe Embiid and Simmons or healthy Klay and Draymond
 
Understand that the Lakers are the favorites, and agree that LeBron and AD are the two best players in the series, but reasonable to think that the Heat have the next 5, maybe 6, best players. Maybe Lakers just steamroll by the sheer force of LeBron's will, but feel like the Heat have a solid chance, and they are BY FAR the most mentally tough team the Lakers have played since the playoffs started.
 
Biggest question for the heat is how much shooting are they going to sacrifice for defense. They typically have multiple dudes on the floor that Lebron will just hunt.
 
tiltdeac said:
Biggest question for the heat is how much shooting are they going to sacrifice for defense. They typically have multiple dudes on the floor that Lebron will just hunt.
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Like the Celts series, the Heat will play a zone until the Lakers prove that they can beat it.
 
I just don't buy the zone against the Lakers. Spo is the way better coach and maybe I'm just way off, but that zone gets punished by a skilled big that can get it at the free throw line and attack and/or make open short mid range jumpers. Maybe he can re-tool it to take that away somehow I guess.
 
Pilchard said:
Understand that the Lakers are the favorites, and agree that LeBron and AD are the two best players in the series, but reasonable to think that the Heat have the next 5, maybe 6, best players. Maybe Lakers just steamroll by the sheer force of LeBron's will, but feel like the Heat have a solid chance, and they are BY FAR the most mentally tough team the Lakers have played since the playoffs started.
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Sure. See the posts between me and stugotz last night. The Heat have the next 5 of 6 best players. Don’t forget about Kuzma. If guys like Rondo and Green get to prime form, it’s going to be very tough for the Heat to match.
 
Fun Fact: Coach Spo married a Heat Cheerleader....

nikki-sapp-7.jpg
 
Clippers fire Doc Rivers.
 
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