NBA Tar Heels Update: Danny Green and the Lakers Win the 2020 NBA Championship
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 106 – 93 on Sunday night to secure their 17th NBA championship in franchise history.
This championship ties the Lakers with Celtics for the most in NBA history.
The championship-clinching Game 6 was an absolute blowout; the Lakers weren’t about to let the Heat get close like they did in Game 5. They went on an 18-2 run in the second quarter to move the score from 46-32 to 64-34; a 30-point lead with 49 seconds left before halftime. The halftime lead was 28 points (64-36). The Lakers pushed out to as much as a 36-point lead (82-46) with 3:29 left in the third quarter on a Rajon Rondo three-pointer.
LeBron James now has four career NBA Championships and won the Finals MVP in each of those championship seasons. He tallied his 11th NBA Finals triple-double in the clinching game, the most in NBA Finals history. James finished with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. His night was punctuated by this absurd dunk with two minutes left in the third quarter:
With the championship, Danny Green has now won three in his career, including back-to-back in 2019 (Raptors) and 2020 (Lakers). He is now one of six Tar Heels with three or more championships. That list includes:
- Michael Jordan – 6 (Bulls ’91-’93, ’96-’98)
- Rick Fox – 3 (Lakers ’00-’02)
- Danny Green – 3 (Spurs ‘14, Raptors ’19, Lakers ’20)
- Mitch Kupchak – 3 (Bullets ’78, Lakers ’82 & ’85)
- Scott Williams – 3 (Bulls ’91-’93)
- James Worthy – 3 (Lakers ’85, ’87, & ’88)
Green missed a three-pointer at the end of Game 5 that would have clinched the championship for the Lakers. He discussed in the lead-up to Game 6 that his fiancée Blair was receiving death threats in the wake of Game 5. Here’s Green discussing the issue:
Danny Green’s stat lines in the NBA Finals
- Game 1 – 30 min, 11 pts, 4-9 FG, 3-8 3FG, 4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk, +21 +/-
- Game 2 – 22 min, 3 pts, 1-8 FG, 1-8 3FG, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, +4 +/-
- Game 3 – 17 min, 2 pts, 0-6 FG, 0-4 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 reb, 1 ast, -15 +/-
- Game 4 – 21 min, 10 pts, 4-8 FG, 2-6 3FG, 2 reb, 1 asat, 2 stl, +5 +/-
- Game 5 – 24 min, 8 pts, 3-8 FG, 2-5 3FG, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, +12 +/-
- Game 6 – 25 min, 11 pts, 4-10 FG, 3-7 3FG, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, +5 +/-
Scores from the NBA Finals
- Game 1: Lakers 116, Heat 98 (Lakers 1-0)
- Game 2: Lakers 124, Heat 114 (Lakers 2-0)
- Game 3: Heat 115, Lakers 104 (Lakers 2-1)
- Game 4: Lakers 102, Heat 96 (Lakers 3-1)
- Game 5: Heat 111, Lakers 108 (Lakers 3-2)
- Game 6: Lakers 106, Heat 93 (Lakers win 4-2)
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