LOS Angeles Lakers had its one hand on the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship after cruising to a 102-96 triumph over Miami Heat in Game 4 of their Finals on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines).
LeBron James and Anthony Davis came alive offensively in the second half with the former tallying 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the latter chipping in 22 points and nine boards to lead the way for the Lakers.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also had his contributions with 15 markers including 10 in the opening quarter. Daniel Green added 10 points while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris ended up with eight points each.
Caldwell-Pope set the tone early for the Lakers with eight points while Green also found his stroke from the outside for a 21-16 edge. LA maintained the upperhand after 12 minutes following a three-point conversion by Kuzma.
Miami opened the second period with a scoring run as they surged to a 34-29 advantage after a trifecta from Andre Iguodala, but LA was quick with its response as it took a 49-47 halftime lead on back-to-back triples by Green and Alex Caruso.
James took over the scoring cudgels for the Lakers in the third period as his four straight hits gave them a 63-57 lead. The Heat rallied to within 64-65, but baskets from Davis allowed the Lakers to take a 75-70 edge heading into the fourth.
It was still a close call for both teams in the final quarter with the score tied at 83-all before James anchored another Lakers rally to take a 90-85 lead before pulling away at 100-93 via back-to-back triples from Caldwell-Pope and Davis.
Jimmy Butler finished with near triple-double 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, rookie Tyler Herro added 21 markers while Duncan Robinson and returning Bam Adebayo contributed 17 and 15 markers respectively for the Heat.
BOX SCORE:
LOS ANGELES 102 – James 28, Davis 22, Caldwell-Pope 15, Green 10, Kuzma 9, Morris 9, Caruso 7, Rondo 2, Howard 0.
MIAMI 96 – Butler 22, Herro 21, Robinson 17, Adebayo 15, Crowder 8, Nunn 6, Olynyk 4, Iguodala 3.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 27-22; Q2, 49-47; Q3, 75-70; Q4, 102-96.
The NBA holds 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
