Heat fans were left devastated after the first half, as Dwyane Wade was taken off the court on a stretcher during the second quarter. It was revealed later that he had re-injured the ankle that kept him out of action for two months during the regular season and will keep him out of the rest of Finals.
Wade carried the Heat during the first quarter with 13 points. With Wade off the court, the Heat were out-scored by 17 points and the Lakers took game #1, 109-96.
LeBron James scored 26 points, and added 6 steals, sparking a late Heat-rally, but it wasn't enough to catch up with the Lakers. Kyle Korver added 21 points, knocking down 5 threes. Chris Bosh had 18.
For the Lakers, Kobe led the way with 27 points, Lamar Odom had 19 and 9 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Ron Artest and Shannon Brown also reached double-figures, Brown added 6 assists.
Wade came out aggrressive, scoring 13 of the Heat's first 17 before taking a breather on the bench. The game stayed close, but the 2nd half showed the Heat hadn't overcome Wade's injury.
They often rushed shots, forced the ball in the paint and missed many open looks. The Lakers had built a 14-point lead with 6 minutes to go. LeBron James had 3 steals in the remaining time, scored 8 points, but the Lakers were too much, hitting threes and knocking down the foul shots.
Kyle Korver is expected to start in game #2 in Wade's place.
Player of the Game : Kobe Bryant | 27 PTS | 4 REBS | 5 ASTS | 0 STLS | 0 BLKS | 10-23 FG | 1-2 3PT FG | 6-7 FT
Key Performers :
Heat :
Dwyane Wade : 15 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 6-9 FG, 3-3 FT, 16 minutes Chris Bosh : 18 points, 4 rebounds, 7-13 FG, 4-4 FT LeBron James : 26 points, 6 steals, 4 rebounds Udonis Haslem : 6 points James Jones : 5 points, 3 steals, 2 assists
Things aren't looking good, I really wanted Wade do dominate and get his 2nd Finals MVP. Also, Korver (And Eddie House) has to deal with Kobe, that's a tall order for him.
Mario Chalmers tied an NBA Finals record with 7 steals held by Robert Horry and the Heat shot 58% behind 34 assists to tie up the Finals at 1 game a piece, 121-102.
LeBron led the Heat with 36 points and 15 assists, 27 points came in the first half. The Heat got big boosts from their sharp-shooters James Jones and Kyle Korver, who are filling in for Dwyane Wade. They combined for 29 points, going 5-8 from deep between the two.
Kobe led the Lakers with 37 points, but needed 31 shots to get it, also not getting a single free throw. Shannon Brown came off the bench with 18 and Pau Gasol contributed 15 points.
The Heat got off to a hot start behind LeBron James, who had 19 points in the first quarter. With him and Chalmers, they also kept their teammates involved and held a 16-point lead at the half.
The Lakers didn't get closer then 9 points for the rest of the game, as the HEAT always found a response to any runs the Lakers put together.
Even with LeBron on the bench, James Jones scored 11 in the final quarter.
The series will now switch to Miami for 3 games, where the Heat can close out the series.
Player of the Game : LeBron James | 36 PTS | 4 REBS | 15 ASTS | 3 STLS | 2 BLKS | 13-22 FG | 0-5 3PT FG | 10-10 FT
Great game by your backup wingmen with Wade being down. But how clutch is Robert Horry? I mean he's like in every fucking finals category. 7 steals by a big man? Holy cow.
Anyways, good win, it's tough for me to root for anybody in this matchup so I hope it will be up to seven games with Wade down.