LOS Angeles Lakers took their 17th National Basketball Association (NBA) title following a 106-93 victory over Miami Heat in Game 6 of their Finals on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines).
LeBron James was hailed as Finals MVP after tallying triple-double 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists while Anthony Davis contributed double-double 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers.
Rajon Rondo also contributed 19 points while Kentavious Caldwell Pope and Danny Green had double-digit outputs of 17 and 11 markers respectively.
The Heat were still within striking distance midway in the first quarter at 16-17 before the Lakers went on a rally behind Rondo, Caldwell-Pope, Davis, and James to establish a 28-20 advantage.
Rondo spearheaded Los Angeles’ avalanche in the second period with layups and outside hit before James, Davis, Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso made their contributions as the lead ballooned to 64-36 at the half.
The Lakers advantage grew even further at the onset of the third period at 82-46 following a three-pointer by Rondo before surrendering a mini run to the Heat late in the quarter to hang on to an 87-58 edge.
Miami went on with its rally at the onset of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 90-69, but consecutive baskets from Davis and James extended Los Angeles’ advantage to 101-78.
Bam Adebayo finished the match with double-double 25 points and 10 rebounds while Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder added 12 markers each for the Heat.
BOX SCORE:
LOS ANGELES 106 – James 28, Davis 19, Rondo 19, Caldwell-Pope 17, Green 11, Caruso 4, Morris 3, Howard 3, Kuzma 2, Dudley 0, Cook 0.
MIAMI 93 – Adebayo 25, Butler 12, Crowder 12, Robinson 10, Olynyk 9, Nunn 8, Herro 7, Dragić 5, Hill 5, Iguodala 0, Jones 0.
Quarterscores:
Q1, 28-20; Q2, 64-36; Q3, 87-58; Q4, 106-93.
The NBA held all matches of its 2019-2020 playoffs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States./PN
