Heat vs. Lakers: Game 1 Stats and NBA Finals 2020 Game 2 Schedule, Odds

Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals was less of a heavyweight bout between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat than it was the Purple and Gold turning their competition into a punching bag.

The final tally saw the Lakers enjoying a 116-98 victory. The game itself was far more lopsided, as the Heat won the final frame by eight points.

Below, we'll look at the important statistical trends from Game 1 before predicting how Game 2 will go.

NBA Finals Game 2

Date: Friday, October 2

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: ABC

Odds: Lakers -7.5 | O/U 216 (via FanDuel)

Game 1 Notable Trends

The Run

Eight minutes into the proceedings, the Heat actually enjoyed a 25-12 advantage. They were splashing their jumpers, Jimmy Butler was relentlessly attacking and their paint-packing on defense helped hold LeBron James and Anthony Davis in check.

But a pair of corner threes from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope helped the Lakers find their footing, and they were off to the races just like that. Over the next two quarters, L.A. blitzed Miami with a run—or, more accurately, a marathon—that felt like it not only changed this game but almost threatened to end the series.

A Davis dunk at the 6:04 mark of the third quarter gave the Lakers an 87-55 advantage. For the non-math majors out there, that means L.A. outscored Miami 75-30 over that stretch.

"From that moment when it was 23-10, we started to play to our capabilities," James told reporters. "We started flying around. We started getting defensive stops. We started sharing the ball a lot better offensively and just got into a really good groove."

The Rebounds

The Lakers' most obvious advantage entering the series was superior star power. Even the biggest backers of Butler and Bam Adebayo can admit James and Davis occupy a different realm of the NBA galaxy.

But L.A.'s next-biggest advantage was size. The starting frontcourt featured the 6'9" James, the 6'10" Davis and 6'10" Dwight Howard. The second unit included the 6'8" combo of Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma.

Miami is not a big team—especially not after booting Meyers Leonard out of the rotation—so it was fair to wonder how it could mitigate that disadvantage. In Game 1, it didn't. The Lakers compiled a colossal 54-36 advantage on the glass and turned their nine offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.

"The Lakers set the tenor, the tone, the force, the physicality for the majority of the game, and they just took control," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Role Players

Miami's biggest advantage was supposed to be its depth. While the Heat had slimmed down to effectively a seven-player rotation in the Eastern Conference finals, those seven players looked stronger than any seven-man mix the Heat could put together.

But in the series opener, the Lakers had the better supporting pieces.

Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Alex Caruso all scored in double digits. Howard had eight boards in only 14 minutes; Kuzma had another eight in his 22. Rajon Rondo had seven points and four assists. The Lakers made 15 threes, and all but four of them came from players not named James or Davis.

Miami's role players, conversely, disappointed almost across the board. Duncan Robinson didn't score. Tyler Herro needed 18 shots for his 14 points and registered a minus-35 across his 30 minutes. Andre Iguodala was a minus-25 in 25 minutes. Kelly Olynyk shot 1-of-5 from the field. Solomon Hill went 0-of-4 from distance.

This was the one area the Heat needed to win and win big. If they can't do that, this series could be quickly put to rest.

Game 2 Prediction

This series isn't over, but man, it's hard not to notice all the alarm sirens blaring around the Heat.

If their Game 1 play wasn't bad enough, their injury worries coming out of it are even worse. Goran Dragic suffered a plantar tear in his left foot, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and it could put his series in jeopardy. Adebayo hurt his shoulder. Butler rolled his ankle.

Everything that could go wrong did, and it was more than Miami could handle in a series in which it already doesn't have the top two players.

Maybe the injuries are a rallying point for the Heat, but more likely, James and Davis are tasting blood. Their physical advantages aren't going away—Miami could try to go bigger, but it played its best ball of the season after going small in the bubble—and they can exploit them in countless ways.

If L.A.'s shooting regresses, this should be a closer contest on Friday night. But the outcome will be the same.

Prediction: Lakers 112, Heat 107