Seeing is believing and the Golden State Warriors are getting an up-close-and-personal look at Playoff Jimmy. Jimmy Butler is showing up and showing out in a big way for his new team in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

“He’s different. I’m happy he’s on our side,” Draymond Green said about Butler, who dropped 38 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a hard-fought 121-116 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The win advanced the Warriors into the Western Conference playoffs as the seventh seed. Butler is a major reason why the Warriors remain a legit title contender. Draymond is well aware of Jimmy’s reputation as a big-game hunter when April, May and June roll around and he certainly loves seeing it up close and personal.

“You could just see a whole different intensity level and focus,” Green said postgame. “I’m a basketball fan, so I’ve watched it on TV for years. To see it up close and personal, it’s a real thing.”

Butler’s magnificent all-around game — he also had seven rebounds, six assists, three steals — was the catalyst in Golden State putting Memphis on its heels and building an early 20-point lead before the Grizzlies stormed back.

With the game up for grabs, Steph Curry put on his superhero cape and provided the knockout punch in the second half. Curry took over down the stretch, scoring 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter including a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line to ice the game.

“We got a hellified Batman in Steph,” Butler told TNT’s Allie LaForce about his Warriors teammate.

“It’s real. It’s real I’m telling you,” Butler added. “That’s a Batman if I’ve ever seen a Batman. Always coming to save the day. He’s so poised, he’s so calm.”

When the Warriors acquired Butler in a blockbuster trade at the trade deadline, they picked up a player who can impact the game in multiple ways. Butler has been everything the Warriors envisioned. He’s been the Robin to Steph’s Batman, and having the two of them together gives the Warriors a punchers chance in the postseason.

“I think one more than anything how together we are on the court off the court, everybody wants everybody to be great,” Butler said. “We play our roles to a tee.”

Golden State has been the NBA’s second-best team since acquiring Butler, who’s had a significant impact on both ends of the court. Since the trade, the Warriors have owned the league’s best defense and they went from having the worst free throw attempts per game to being the best almost overnight.

A loss would have been detrimental for Golden State, a team many experts believe are on a short list on NBA championship contenders. But thanks to Butler and Curry, the Warriors avoid the extra game and get some much-needed rest before the playoff chase truly starts.

“Our guys have been playing high-level, knockout games for three weeks. We desperately needed the [extra days off],” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Image caption: Draymond Green calls Warriors teammate Jimmy Butler “different.” (Getty Images)

They don’t call him Nikola Jokic “The Joker” for nothing.

When a reporter covering the 2023 NBA Finals asked Jokic if he considers himself the best player in the world, he responded in classic Joker fashion. “I’m confused,” the Denver Nuggets superstar center replied. “It’s hard to say. Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not. And I’m cool with that.”

What’s cool about Jokic is he lets his game do the talking. He may not possess the agility of Hakeem Olajuwon, the shot-blocker skills of Bill Russell, or the sheer power of Shaquille O’Neal. But he belongs in the pantheon of all-time big men.

Jokic relies on his basketball IQ and guard-like skills. He’s also quite good at filling in the blanks.

Need scoring? Jokic averaged 24 points per game.

Need rebounds? Jokic averaged nearly 12 boards.

Need a playmaker? Jokic averaged almost 10 assists.

“The MVPs are real. The triple-doubles are real,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said about his franchise player after sweeping the L.A. Lakers in the 2023 Western Conference finals. Three weeks later, Jokic would lead the Nuggets to the franchise’s first NBA championship after overpowering the Miami Heat in five games.

The beauty of Jokic’s game lies in it’s flexibility. He’s a shape shifter. He doesn’t fight the game or force the issue.

There was some talk from TV pundits that he’s padding his stats to strengthen his MVP case. This “silly narrative” irked Malone.

“The narratives, the silly narratives this year are just what, silly and somewhat ignorant,” Malone said. “I think Nikola has gone through three rounds now where he’s averaging a triple-double in the playoffs. Have you seen any stat-padding out there? I’m serious, enough of the silliness.”

Malone continued, “The guy is a great player; give him his damn respect. Stop chopping him down at the knees. He’s a great player, and give him the respect he deserves.”

Shaq certainly has Jokic’s respect. After Jokic produced a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, Shaq welcomed Jokic into the fictional “Big Man Alliance.” Jokic humbly accepted the flowers from The Diesel.

***

Each year OneManFastBreak.net ranks the five best players in the NBA. The OMFB Furious Five pays homage to the five styles of Chinese martial arts: snake, crane, monkey, praying mantis, and tiger.

The ranking system is based on one man’s opinion and does not follow or conform to any standard format, with more emphasis placed on how each player and their respective teams performed in the postseason. Stars are born during the regular season, but legends are made in the playoffs.

In 2022, OMFB Furious Five featured Jayson Tatum (5), Nikola Jokic (4), Luka Doncic (3), Giannis Antetokounmpo (2), Steph Curry (1).

Without further ado, here are the five best basketball players in the world.

5. JIMMY BUTLER
Miami Heat, Forward

The Miami Heat have reached the NBA Finals twice since Jimmy Butler came to South Beach. And it could have easily been three Finals appearances if Butler’s 3-pointer in the waning moments of Game 7 in the 2022 Western Conference finals in Miami had gone in. “Next year, we will have enough, and we’re gonna be right be right back in this same situation and we’re gonna get it done,” Butler said after the Heat’s heartbreaking playoff loss.

Almost exactly one year later, the Heat found itself in the same situation. This time it was Game 7 in Boston’s TD Garden Arena with the surging Celtics having built up plenty of momentum to make a historic comeback after being down 0-3 in the series. The pressure was on Butler to deliver, and he delivered in Playoff Jimmy fashion. He scored a game-high 28 points despite struggling from the field (12-for-28 shooting) in 43 minutes. Despite battling fatigue, Butler grabbed seven rebounds, created scoring for others with six assists and was an absolute pest on defense with three steals. He also knocked down three timely 3-pointers. Butler also did the job on the defensive end as he bottled up Celtics All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown to 19 points on 8-for-23 shooting. Butler’s stifling defense also forced Brown into eight turnovers.

Butler, who was named the 2023 conference finals MVP, has firmly established himself as one of the best, if not the best, two-way players in basketball. But what separates Butler from other All-NBA studs is his grit. He can win a game with sheer will and determination. It’s not always pretty, but it is always effected.

“He’s one of those guys who competes at literally everything. Cards, UNO games … he’s just the ultimate competitor,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry told the Associated Press about Butler, who embodies everything about Heat Culture.

What exactly is Heat Culture? It’s about keeping the main thing the main thing. It’s about competing. It’s about winning.

The Heat Culture is not for everyone, but it perfectly fits Butler’s hard-charging personality.

“More than anything it’s just the belief that we have in one another, the belief that you must have in yourself to realize how special you can be in this league, in this moment, in this organization,” Butler told the AP. “I think everybody’s bought into that. Everybody’s confident. I don’t even know if overconfident is what you would call it, but it’s a thing. And our guys are playing some incredible basketball. So that Heat Culture, the confidence that Heat Culture instills in each and every one of us is very real.”

4. STEPHEN CURRY
Golden State Warriors, Guard

Steph Curry admits he is the NBA’s “petty king.” He sees and hears and remembers all the disses, the slights, and the snubs. It doesn’t matter if they are done in jest. If Curry thinks he or any member of his inner circle gets disrespected, he will clap back.

When a Boston bar trolled Curry’s wife, Ayesha, by posting a sign saying “Ayesha Curry Can’t Cook” the NBA’s greatest 3-point shooter fired right back by wearing a T-shirt to a postgame press conference that read “Ayesha Curry CAN Cook.”

When ESPN talking heads like Domonique Foxworth and Kendrick Perkins both predicted that Curry will win “zero” championships after signing his $215 contract extension with the Warriors, Steph put it in his memory bank and saved the retort for the right occasion. After Curry and the Warriors clinched their fourth NBA title in eight seasons, Curry called out Foxworth and Perkins during a postgame session with the media.

“I clearly remember some experts and talking heads putting up the big zero on how many championships we’d have going forward because of everything we went through,” Curry said. “We hear all that, we carry all that and try to maintain a purpose, not let it distract you. But you carry that weight.”

Curry has been carrying the weight of the Warriors since 2015 when he won the first of two straight MVPs and broke the Bay Area’s 40-year NBA title drought. For nearly a decade, the road to the championship had to go through Curry and Golden State. But the 2022-23 season was a trying season for Curry and the Warriors.

The normally buttoned-up franchise had to deal with the ugly Draymond Green incident where he was seen in a video punching teammate Jordan Poole during practice. The Warriors struggled to find their footing during the regular season and finished in sixth in the standings. There were flickers of hope that the Dubs dynasty would keep moving after Curry dropped a record-setting 50 points in Game 7 of the 2023 Western Conference first-round series against the Sacramento Kings in Sac Town. The Dubs’ tumultuous season came to an end one round later after getting eliminated by LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers in the conference semifinals.

3. JOEL EMBIID
Philadelphia 76ers, Center

Doc Rivers once asked Joel Embiid, “Have you ever seen an out-of-shape MVP?” Embiid laughed when he heard the question. Rivers then followed by saying, “It doesn’t exist.” The Philadelphia 76ers big man got the message loud and clear. In order for him to be at an MVP-level, he needed to work on his conditioning. He hired a chef and worked with a nutritionist. The renewed commitment to fitness turned Embiid into one of the most dominant centers the league has seen since Shaq and Tim Duncan.

Over the last three seasons, Embiid has averaged 28.5 points (2021), 30.6 (2022), and 33.1 (2023). He has led the NBA in scoring two years in a row. The last time a center did that was Shaq back in 2000. Embiid put an exclamation point on his remarkable 2022-23 season by dropping 52 points on a super efficient 20-for-25 shooting from the field against the Boston Celtics. After the game, Rivers told reporters that the MVP race was “over.”

Philly fans have been trusting the process for a decade. Thanks to Embiid, the 76ers are back to being one of the beasts in the East.

The 7-foot, 280-pound big man from Cameroon is an absolute two-way beast. He is an old-school centerpiece on offense who can destroy single coverage and command double teams. He forces teams to adjust. He has amazing footwork for a big man. It’s not quite Olajuwon level, but it’s getting very darn close. He has a vast array of low-post moves and shots, and he can drain the occasional 3-pointer if given space. Defensively, Embiid’s ability to be up on the pick-and-roll while also going back and protect the basket have made the Sixers one of the toughest teams to score on. He’s one of those guys who just has great size and skill and that allows him to be a top-notch defender. “He’s just smarter,” Rivers said of his center. “Smarter and able to cover ground. With this size, I never realized that he had the feet that he has and his IQ helps too. He’s a very smart defensive player so you don’t really know that till you coach a guy. I’ve been very impressed with him.”

2. GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO
Milwaukee Bucks, Forward

Don’t tell Giannis Antetokounmpo that his 2023 season was a failure. A reporter made the mistake of bringing up the F-word to Giannis moments after the Milwaukee Bucks became the sixth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s not a failure,” Giannis said after the Bucks were eliminated by the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in five games. “It’s steps towards success,” he continued. “There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years. He won six championships. The other nine years, he was a failure? (No.) So why do you ask me that question? It’s the wrong question.

“There’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days. Some days you’re able to be successful. Some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn. Some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Some other people are going to win. And this year, somebody else is going to win. Simple as that.”

The Greek Freak had another superlative individual season. He finished third in the MVP voting — averaging 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists — and led the Bucks to the best overall record in the NBA. Despite an outstanding regular season, Giannis’ 2023 season will be defined by his team’s stunning collapse in the first round.

Giannis has reached a point in his career that anything less than a championship is considered a failure. And that’s ok. It comes with the territory. The two-time MVP will undoubtedly use the Miami series as fuel for next season.

And now, the No. 1 player in the world. Drum roll please . . .

1. NIKOLA JOKIC
Denver Nuggets, Center

How good was Nikola Jokic in the 2023 NBA playoffs? Just ask Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

“I know how great Jokic is,” LeBron said after his L.A. Lakers were swept 4-0 by Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.

“There are certain guys in this league that play the game a certain way, a certain way that I like to play the game as well, and he’s one of them,” LeBron said. “Where you are always off balance when you are guarding a player like that, because of his ability to score, rebound, shoot. He sees plays before they happen. There’s not many guys in our league like that.You already knew you was going against a beast once the series started… Everybody gets cracked up into his stats, but I don’t think a lot of people talk about this part of his game. Maybe it’s not talked about because a lot of people don’t understand it. But I do. He’s special.”

“I always knew how great he was,” Durant said after his Phoenix Suns squad were beaten 4-2 by the Nuggets in the conference semifinals. “Jokic is a all-time great,” Durant continued. “He’ll go down as one of the all-time great centers that ever touched a basketball. He went out there and did what he was supposed to do.”

The media narrative around Jokic’s historic eighth season in the NBA was that he was “stat padding” and his triple-doubles were not organic. This false narrative was one of the biggest reasons why Jokic was denied an opportunity to win his third consecutive regular-season MVP trophy, an award that went to Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

Only three players in the league history won three straight MVPs: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Larry Bird. Some members of the media didn’t think Jokic belonged in that elite group. That’s an opinion that can be debated and litigated for hours, weeks, months, and years. There is no right or wrong answer. What can’t be debated was how Jokic performed during the 2023 NBA playoffs.

Jokic put up eye-popping stats in the Nuggets’ 4-2 series win over the Suns, averaging 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 10.3 assists in 38.5 minutes.

He pulled off another impressive triple-double feat in the conference finals against the Lakers as he averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 11.8 assists. He swished two off-balance 3-pointers over the best defensive center in the world, Anthony Davis, as the shot clock was running out. That’s when the Lakers knew it wasn’t going to be their day — or their series.

“Even when you guard him for one of the best possessions you think you can guard him, he puts the ball behind his head, Larry Bird style, and shoots it 50 feet in the air and it goes in,” LeBron said. “He did it 4-5 times this series.”

When Jokic was asked about those off-balance threes, he replied, “I’ve been off balance my whole life. It’s kind of normal for me.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Eventually, some team is going to break the streak.

In the history of the NBA, when teams take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series, the likelihood of having a shot at winning the series is about as improbable as correctly choosing all six numbers in the lottery. It’s a 1 in 13,983,816 chance of winning.

The 2023 Boston Celtics looked at those odds and said, “So, you’re saying there’s a chance.”

Boston won the equivalent of nailing five of the six numbers in the Mega Millions jackpot and came within 48 minutes of pulling off a playoff comeback for the ages. The Celtics became the first NBA team since 2003 to dig out of an 0-3 hole and force a Game 7. It wasn’t just any series. It was the Eastern Conference finals.

However, like the previous 150 teams that tried to break the cycle, Boston came up short as it got destroyed by the Miami Heat 103-84 in Game 7 at TD Garden Arena.

It was a roller-coaster ride for the Celtics. In a matter of seven days, they went from being massive underachievers to a team on the brink of returning to the NBA Finals only to have it snatched away in one swoop after a shockingly poor performance in front of their loyal fans.

“We failed. I failed. We let the whole city down,” Celtics All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown said during his postgame media availability.

When the Heat took a 3-0 series lead in the conference finals, basketball fans and media pundits were tossing all sorts of narratives around the Celtics and none of them were good.
Talking heads were destroying first-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla for being too green and not meeting the moment. Brown’s name was being tossed around in trade scenarios, and the old ghosts that haunted superstar forward Jayson Tatum during last year’s NBA Finals seem to have popped up again.

Seven days later, Mazzulla’s job was no longer in danger. Brown could be in line for a lucrative contract extension and Tatum rediscovered his MVP form.

Once the Celtics decided to step on the gas, it became a series. It shouldn’t come as a surprise the Celtics beat the Heat in seven games. The Celtics finished with the second-best record in the regular season and were one of the betting favorites to reach the NBA Finals. The big surprise was how Boston found itself down 3-0 to an eighth-seeded Miami squad that barely made it out of the play-in tournament.

It’s unfortunate that the Miami Heat, a proud franchise with championship pedigree, found itself on the edge of a historic collapse. A loss to the Celtics are being up 3-0 in the series would have been a permanent stain on the franchise. It would have been a stain on Erik Spoelstra’s impressive coaching résumé, and it would have been a huge stain on the résumés of Miami two superstars — Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

The Heat wouldn’t even be in the conference finals without Butler and Adebayo. They are the heart and soul of a Miami squad that entered the postseason as massive underdogs. The Heat earned the eighth and final spot in the East playoffs by beating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament. The Heat then pulled off an improbable upset in the first round after knocking off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. That upset now feels like an eternity.

Butler and Adebayo faded on the back end of the Boston series, as both looked fatigued.

Butler was in prime Playoff Jimmy form in the first two games of the series, scoring 35 and 27 points and playing lockdown defense on Tatum and Brown. But since then, Butler has struggled to find his shooting stroke. He scored 16 points in Miami’s Game 3 win at home, and things got progressively worse as the series extended. He was 9-for-21 from the field in a Game 4 loss. He took only 10 shots and finished with 14 points in a Game 5 loss. He was 5-for-21 in a Game 6 loss.

Adebayo also got off to great start in the first two games in Boston, taking full advantage of single coverage and doing plenty of damage in the paint (42 points and 25 rebounds). But since then, he has gone ice cold from field (13, 10, 16, 11 points) and hasn’t been as dominant on the glass. In Game 6, Bam was 4-for-16 from the field and couldn’t secure the pivotal rebound that led to Derrick White’s game-winning tip-in as time expired for a stunning 104-103 win.

The shooting struggles for Bam and Butler spilled over into Game 7, but both summoned enough strength and energy to impact the game on both ends and lead the Heat to a win. Miami became just the sixth team in 28 tries to win at the Garden in a Game 7. It was pure heart and determination, which embodies the Heat culture.

There were three key reasons why Miami knocked off Boston and advanced to the franchise’s seventh NBA Finals: Spoeltra’s coaching maneuvers, Heat role players stepping up, and Tatum injuring his left ankle in Game 7.

Spoelstra made all the proper adjustments throughout the series and thoroughly outcoached the rookie Mazzulla. Each time Mazzulla made a move, Spo had a counter. Mazzulla — who at 34 is the NBA’s youngest coach — and his staff couldn’t solve the Heat’s puzzling zone defense. Instead of attack the seams of the zone, Boston settled for contested 3-point shots. Over their final two games of the series, the Celtics shot a combined 16-for-77 from 3, including an abysmal 9-for-42 in Game 7.

Mazzulla’s big adjustment in the series was inserting White into the starting lineup to give the Celtics another shooter and ball handler. Spo countered that move by dropping 34-year-old Kevin Love out of the rotation and sliding super-sub Caleb Martin into the starting lineup. Spo wasn’t only beating Mazzulla with X’s and O’s, but he also was winning the motivational game. Moments after the Heat’s crushing defeat in Game 6, Spoelstra went on the podium and declared: “We wish we could tip this thing off right now. Right now! We want to tip this thing off and let’s play another 48 minutes. But we’ll wait another 48 hours and do this thing in Boston.”

Miami certainly did its thing in Boston in Game 7, and it was the Heat role players who got it started. Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson played outstanding basketball in Game 7, but Martin absolutely played out of his mind. Martin, who came within one vote of winning the conference finals MVP trophy, was sensational in Game 7, scoring 26 points in 45 minutes and making 11 of his 16 shots from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

“If you’re a real competitor, it’s in your soul, and that’s what Caleb is. He’s a competitor,” Spoelstra said about Martin, who averaged 19.3 points while shooting 60% from the field and 49% from 3-point range in the conference finals. Martin has never topped 9.6 points per game prior to this postseason and is a career 36% 3-point shooter.

The final big nail on the Boston coffin was Tatum’s ankle injury. He twisted his left ankle 26 seconds into Game 7 and was never the same. He injured it on the first play of the game when he collided with Vincent near the basket and landed awkwardly on Vincent’s foot. Tatum tried to play through the sprain, but his mobility was compromised and the limp got progressively worse as the game wore on. Tatum finished with 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field, easily his worst game of the series and possibly the worst game of his young playoff career.

“It swelled up and it was just frustrating that I was kind of like a shell of myself,” said Tatum, who had a noticeable limp as he addressed the media. “It was tough to move. Just frustrating. Especially it happening on the first play.”

Tatum had averaged a series-high 27.2 points through the first six games.

Overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the postseason is extremely rare in major professional team sports. It has been done four times in the NHL (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, and 2014 Los Angeles Kings), and it’s only been done once in MLB (2004 Boston Red Sox).

The NBA remains the only major sports league not to experience it, but it’s getting close.

LeBron James knocked off Jimmy Butler and the Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals. (Getty Images)

NBA Hall of Famer and current NBA TV analyst Isiah Thomas offered the simplest and candid commentary on the 2020 NBA Finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.

The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments. Teams that can make the proper corrections during the course of a series usually comes out on top. But there’s only so much a coaching staff can do in terms of schematic tweaks. Even if the effort is there and the execution is nearly flawless, the team with the best talent eventually comes out on top.

The Finals inside the coronavirus-free bubble at the Walt Disney World in Orlando offered a fascinating chess match, pitting the Los Angeles Lakers’ two battle-tested playmakers in LeBron James and Rajon Rondo — who have appeared in more than 300 playoff games combined and have seen any imaginable defense during their storied careers — against the defensive-minded and mentally tough Miami Heat squad led by two-way players Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Styles create great matchups. In this matchup, the bigger and stronger Lakers presented the undersized Heat a huge challenge. Not only do the Lakers possess great size, but they were faster, more athletic and more experienced. It’s like competing against Thor in the Olympic hammer throw.

It was a daunting task for the underdog Heat, and it became nearly impossible after veteran guard Goran Dragic (foot) and Adebayo (neck) both suffered significant injuries that limited their impact in the series and disrupted the Heat’s regular rotation.

The championship series played out just as most of us expected. The Lakers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the series thanks to the dominance of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The Heat avoided getting swept thanks to a couple of historic triple-double games from Butler. But once the magic dust from Mickey’s wand disappeared, the Lakers’ size, length, depth and superior talent wore down the undermanned and overmatched Heat. The Lakers won each round in five games, knocking off All-Stars Damian Lillard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic in the West before taking down two-time championship coach Erik Spoelstra in The Finals.

Spoelstra threw everything at the top-seeded Lakers, including the kitchen sink. But it wasn’t enough to derail LeBron from winning his fourth NBA title, Davis’ first and the 17th overall championship for the Lakers franchise, matching the Boston Celtics’ all-time record.

Here are a couple of observations from the NBA Finals.

Sizing up the Heat zone

L.A. has the best frontcourt in the league. They entered every postseason series with a significant size advantage and they used that edge to near perfection, using their great length to create mismatches on both ends of the floor. In an era when teams prefer to go small rather than go big, the Lakers are an anomaly. They are insanely long with a plethora of big men to deploy and a pair of big guards in Danny Green (6-6) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (6-5) who can smother the opposing team’s primary ball handlers. Dwight Howard (6-11) and JaVale McGee (6-0) rotate at center, but when head coach Frank Vogel decides to go “small” he inserts 6-8 Markief Morris at power forward, slides Davis to center, and plays LeBron at small forward. Vogel’s finishing lineup almost always includes their best defenders: Rondo, Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, LeBron and Davis. Vogel also has the option of throwing in Green and Kyle Kuzma, depending on the matchups.

Spoelstra and his coaching staff were able to confound the Celtics with an inverted 2-3 zone defense in the Eastern Conference finals. The uniqueness about the Heat zone was Spo flipped it. The forwards were at the top and the guards were on the baseline with Adebayo patrolling the middle. It was highly effected against a center-less Celtics squad, but it was sliced up by the Lakers like a Papa John’s pizza. LeBron or Davis took turns flashing to the middle above the free throw line, which is what you should do against a zone. With LeBron or Davis collapsing the heart of the zone, it opened up the baseline for dunks and layups and freed up shooters on the wings and corners. When Howard was paired with Davis, he would roam the baseline for easy lobs.

Spoelstra threw a new wrinkle after the second game with a hybrid 1-2-2 zone and a little bit of a box-and-one whenever Davis was on the court. The clever plan worked for at least one game as the Heat were able to steal a game and make the executives at ABC very happy because it prevented an embarrassing sweep. But Spo and Heat could only fool the Lakers once. After LeBron and the Lakers coaching staff watched the film, they knew what to fix and cleaned up the sloppy mistakes.

Vogel utilized a smaller lineup in the next game, pairing Morris with Davis and LeBron up front. The Lakers also made more 3-point shots, which will force any team out of a zone defense. Caldwell-Pope, Green and Kuzma made seven of the team’s 14 3-pointers in Game 4, propelling the Lakers to a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Putting it all on the line

Let’s flash back to the 2006 NBA Finals. The Heat were down 2-0 and on the brink of getting wiped off the floor by the Dallas Mavericks. Enter Dwyane Wade. The then young superstar took over the series by forcefully attacking the basket and forcing the referees to make tough calls (some were not so tough). Wade lived at the free throw line throughout the series and the Heat eventually won in six games and Wade was named Finals MVP.

Flash forward to 2020. Jimmy Butler put his Wade cape on and lived at the free throw line in games 2 and 3. The Heat as a team made 31 of 34 free throws in Game 2, with Jimmy Buckets leading the way by converting 11 of 12 from the line. Butler revved it up in Game 3 as he went 12-for-14 from the line, seeking and searching for contact each time he drove to the basket.

You can paint it however you like. Whether you believe in conspiracy theories or not, you cannot deny the simple fact that referees play a big part in deciding games especially in the playoffs. It has been that way for ages. Butler and the Heat benefitted from several 50-50 calls that allowed the games to be close.

Best performance by a duo

There were two big reasons why the Lakers were able to dismantle the Heat: LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Finals showed us what happens when two second-team All-NBA caliber players like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo take on two first-team All-NBAers in LeBron and AD. As good as Butler was in the series, LeBron was better. And Bam may be an up-and-coming superstar, he is still not in Davis’ league. It boils down to this. The Heat have very good players, but the Lakers have two all-time great players. That’s the difference.

We haven’t seen a Lakers duo dominate The Finals like this since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Davis’ 34-point output in Game 1 was the third-best opening act in The Finals since Shaq’s 43-point outburst against the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 Finals. Then, in the pivotal Game 4, Davis showcased why he was a first-team All-NBA defensive player. He was credited with four blocks, but altered at least a dozen shots. AD also took on the challenge of guarding Butler one-on-one, making it extremely difficult for the Heat forward to get to his favorite spots.

“The guy can do everything defensively,” LeBron said. “That’s why he’s the defensive player of the year.”

With AD taking the Butler assignment on defense, LeBron was able to save his legs on offense. After experiencing a hiccup against Butler in Game 3, getting thoroughly outplayed for the first time in his illustrious career and hearing about it from the media pundits for 24 hours in between games, LeBron rebounded nicely the rest of the series and summoned enough energy in his 35-year-old body to piece together another masterful MVP performance in The Finals.

In a league full of dynamic duos, the L.A. Lakers’ 1-2 punch of King James and The Brow delivered a memorable knockout performance to cap off the most difficult postseason run amid the coronavirus pandemic.