Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals Picks and Predictions 10/2/20
Photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Miami Heat (56-33) at Los Angeles Lakers (65-22)
NBA Basketball: Friday, October 2, 2020 at 9:00 pm (AdventHealth Arena)
The Line: Los Angeles Lakers -9.5 -- Over/Under: 216.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers meet Friday in game two of the NBA Finals at the AdventHealth Arena.
The Miami Heat need an upset victory here to even up the series at 1-1. The Miami Heat are averaging 111.3 points on 45.7 percent shooting and allowing 107.8 points on 45.2 percent shooting. Jimmy Butler is averaging 20.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while Goran Dragic is averaging 19.9 points and 4.6 assists. Bam Adebayo is the third double-digit scorer and Tyler Herro is dishing 3.9 assists. The Miami Heat are shooting 35.5 percent from beyond the arc and 82 percent from the free throw line. The Miami Heat are allowing 34.8 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 42.4 rebounds per game.
The Los Angeles Lakers can take a comfortable 2-0 series lead with a victory here. The Los Angeles Lakers are averaging 114.1 points on 49.6 percent shooting and allowing 106 points on 44.8 percent shooting. Anthony Davis is averaging 29.1 points and 9.3 rebounds while LeBron James is averaging 26.6 points and 8.9 assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the third double-digit scorer and Kyle Kuzma is grabbing 3.5 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers are shooting 35.8 percent from beyond the arc and 75.8 percent from the free throw line. The Los Angeles Lakers are allowing 35.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 44.4 rebounds per game.
The Heat are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games playing on 1 days rest, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as an underdog and 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games overall. The Lakers are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games as a favorite, 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 Friday games and 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Heat last 5 overall. The over is 4-1 in Lakers last 5 overall. The under is 10-1 in the last 11 meetings in Los Angeles and 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
The Miami Heat had a lot of things going for them in this series, but they didn't look great in game one of the series and now Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo are doubtful for this contest due to injuries. Dragic has been key to the Heat this season in providing relief points and helping the Miami offense get out of funks, while Bam is the more important player to the Heats defense. Not to mention those are two of the Heats top three scorers in the playoffs. It's tough to overcome for the Heat, and it's the reason why this line has jumped from -4.5 to nearly a double-digit line. I'd love for the Heat to dig deep and find a way to make things competitive, but these are massive injury blows.
I have no choice but to take the Lakers and the chalk.
Randy’s Pick Los Angeles Lakers -9.5
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
