If the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers go on to win the NBA championship and do it with ease over a banged-up Miami Heat squad, no one is going to be surprised or shocked after what they saw in Game 1.
After all, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were already well on their way to flipping a 13-point, first-quarter deficit into a 32-point Lakers’ lead Wednesday when Miami’s leading playoff scorer, Goran Dragic, suffered a torn plantar fascia in his left foot and All-Star big man Bam Adebayo exited with a strained left shoulder.
But if the Heat are going to have any shot to contend in this series, Miami is going to need all three of the following to happen: A game plan from coach Erik Spoelstra that keeps the bigger Lakers from dominating the boards; a defensive scheme that gets the Lakers’ 3-point shooters to miss a lot more; and a handful of Heat players who have not contributed much during this postseason run to play at a much higher…
