3 Keys for the Miami Heat to Win Game Three

The Miami Heat are currently down 0-2 in the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. There has been a lot of adjustments that have been made in the rotation, due to the absence of Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo. Although Bam is doubtful to play in game three, there is still a chance for him to play since he went to shoot-around this morning. Either way, here are some keys for game three…

#1: Miami must capitalize on their strength, which is three-point shooting.

This one seems fairly obvious, but since they haven’t shot the ball well from deep in the first two games of the series, it’s even more important now. If Miami wants to win in game three, they have to continue to shoot the ball without hesitation. Even if the shooting becomes problematic again, they must continue to get shots up since there’s no need to get away from their game. Obviously missing Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo has hurt it a bit, since Bam’s ability to work dribble hand-offs with his elite screen setting is very essential. Goran also helps shooters get going, since his ability to attack opens up the game for others. But either way, there’s no excuses to not shoot the ball well. They have more than enough guys who are capable of getting hot, and if they go cold once again, it’ll be a hard game to win.

#2: Although Miami can’t match the Lakers length, they must bring physicality.

As mentioned, Miami clearly can’t compete with the Lakers plethora of bigs, especially Anthony Davis. But what they can do is bring physicality to make Anthony Davis and others uncomfortable. This needs to happen if Bam Adebayo is playing or not. A perfect example is the first half of game one. Although they weren’t completely stopping those guys, they were making them work. If you don’t put a body on a roaming Anthony Davis when playing zone defense, it’ll be a long game for Miami. Also, I’d say that Miami will go to man a little bit more in game three, so they can throw a bunch of different guys at AD, much like they did against Giannis. Obviously you can’t do it to the same extent, since LeBron James is on the floor as well, but the Lakers run on the production of Anthony Davis. If Miami can make him uncomfortable, it’ll give them a shot to win this game.

#3: Miami will need to have one scorer stand out from the rest.

The scoring column in game two was pretty even throughout for Miami, but without Goran and Bam that can’t be the case. They will need to have one guy stand out offensively to put a stamp on game three. This is something that Miami hasn’t done much of, since they rely so heavily on their role players, but that may need to change tonight. There’s still many guys capable of doing so, including Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, or maybe a big game for Duncan Robinson or Kendrick Nunn. If somebody can play the role that Goran has played throughout this playoff run, it’ll open up the game for others. Jimmy Butler tried to do that in game two, but ultimately I feel Tyler Herro will step up in game three.