NBA Finals: Lakers' early three-for-all keys Game 1 rout of Heat

Anthony Davis and LeBron James combined for 59 points as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 116-98 in Game 1 of the Finals on Wednesday, but the story was not the Lakers' dynamic duo, it was the first-half shooting from beyond the arc.

In front of a star-studded virtual crowd in Orlando and a national audience, the Lakers erased a 13-point lead early in the first quarter to go up by 17 at halftime. In the process, they knocked down 11 of their 17 attempts from beyond the arc and outscored Miami 34-20 in the second quarter.

Coming into the Finals, the Lakers were 12th out of the 16 playoffs teams in 3-point shooting. But by the end of the game, the Lakers had seven players hit at least one three, with five hitting two or more.

Davis added nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks to go along with his 34 points. James fell one assist short of another a triple-double, finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.  

Miami fell behind by as many as 32 points in the third quarter, but fought back to get the deficit down to 12 late in the fourth. The Heat did all of this without leading scorer Goran Dragic and All-Star center Bam Adebayo, who both left the game with injuries, and Jimmy Butler playing through a hurting ankle.  

Dragic has suffered a plantar tear in his left foot and did not return. His status for the rest of the series is up in the air, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Adebayo had an X-ray on his shoulder and the results were negative, per reports. His status for Game 2 on Friday is also undetermined.

NOTES

• Davis' 34 points were the third-highest point total by a Laker in a Finals debut.
• Heat guard Kendrick Nunn scored 18 points off the bench, after scoring 16 points in his previous seven playoffs games combined.
• The Lakers went on an 81-42 run from the 4:32 mark of the first quarter until the end of the third.