The Miami Heat are going to have an uphill battle as they look to even up the NBA Finals at two games apiece on Tuesday night.
The Heat pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the past few decades when they upended the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers, 115-104, in game three Sunday night.
A masterful performance by Heat Shooting Guard Jimmy Butler gave Miami a chance in the series, even though it will still be a struggle for the Eastern Conference champions going forward.
Butler put together a 40-point triple-double without two of the Heat’s most important players throughout the playoffs in Goran Dragić and Bam Adebayo. Both were sidelined with injuries.
Butler willed the Heat to victory on Sunday, but the question is will he be able to do the same thing in game four?
Butler will need to be the best player on the floor once again for the Heat to have any chance in game four, and the odds of that happening two games in a row when the Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis on their team is incredibly slim.
James had a forgetful performance in game three as he struggled from 3-point range and was sloppy with the basketball, as he committed a game-high eight turnovers in game three. Davis also turned in an underwhelming performance on Sunday by only scoring 15 points, and pulling down five rebounds.
The Miami Heat should expect both James and Davis to show up much more ready to play in game four. L.A. seemed to let their guard down in game three, and the Heat to their credit took full advantage of a lethargic performance put forth by the Lakers.
The Lakers should come out much more motivated in game four, and take an early lead in the game, before hanging on for victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
While the Heat are a far less talented team than the Lakers, they have a tremendous amount of grit, and they will have to dig deep once again early in the game so they can withstand what should be an avalanche of points to begin the game for the Lakers.
Even with Adebayo on track to play in game four, after missing the last two games with a neck injury, the Heat will be overmatched in game four. This game will look much more like games one and two.
Butler needs to have another great performance in game four, which he should be able to do, but that will not be enough to offset what is sure to be a highly motivated Davis and James.
The Lakers gave the Heat hope in game three, and they do not want to make the same mistake twice.
The Lakers will thoroughly outplay the Heat behind at least 60 points combined between James and Davis.
Prediction: Lakers 120 - Heat 107
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