The Whiteboard: The Lakers’ depth was the difference in the NBA Finals
By Ian Levy
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If you were building a case for the Miami Heat before the NBA Finals began, superior depth would have been the starting point. There was no way the Heat were winning a title by having Jimmy Butler be the best player on the floor four times in seven games — honestly, the fact that he managed it twice is still mind-blowing. But if LeBron James and Anthony Davis were going to be the two best players in the series you could have argued, before Goran Dragic’s plantar fascia tear, that the next five were on the Heat.
That depth took a hit with the injuries to Dragic and Bam Adebayo, forcing Meyers Leonard, briefly, into the rotation, and shifting more offensive primacy to Butler, Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn. Those Heat players still had their moments and looked much stronger when Adebayo returned pushing at least part of the rotation back towards normal patterns. But the Lakers’ role players did their jobs too and, in the end, depth just wasn’t an advantage for the Lakers.
The Lakers’ role players stepped up in a huge way in the NBA Finals
Game 6 was only necessary because Danny Green missed a wide-open, potentially game-winning 3-pointer and two massive brain farts by Markieff Morris — a turnover and a no-show in the pick-and-roll. They didn’t even have a high-leverage chance to redeem themselves in Game 6 but finished 4-of-9, combined, from beyond the arc without a single turnover. For the series, they were integral pieces of a terrific team defensive effort and made 36.2 percent of their 3-pointers.
Alex Caruso replaced Dwight Howard in the Game 6 starting lineup and worked as the offensive and defensive connective tissue he’d been all season long. He was quiet on the scoring front but finished with 5 assists, a steal, a block and just one turnover. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope struggled early in the series, managing 29 points on 29 shots in the first three games. In the final three, he scored 48 points on 40 shots, hitting some huge 3-pointers and repeatedly collapsing the defense by attacking closeouts.
And then there was Rajon Rondo who put up 19 points on 11 shots in Game 6, including hitting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. His defense was hit-or-miss but he was a stable tertiary creator, finishing the series with 33 assists to just 10 turnovers. No one in this group was consistently outstanding, no one besides LeBron and Davis even broke 20 points in a game. But collectively, they did their jobs at both ends of the floor, played the Heat’s deeper rotation even and allowed the stars to do their thing.
I have no interest in wading into the conversation about Rob Pelinka’s Executive of the Year recognition, or lack thereof. But I will point out that this group of role players performing this well, relative to Miami, was an unexpected best-case scenario. But they did and now they’re champions.
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