LeBron, LA Lakers close in on NBA title

A DOMINANT Los Angeles Lakers team won Game 2 over the Miami Heat 124-114 to extend their lead to 2-0 in the NBA Finals as LeBron James continued his quest for a fourth ring on Saturday morning.

The Lakers seized the early momentum and put up nine three-pointers in the first two quarters for a 14-point head start at halftime, against a Miami side missing two of their biggest playmakers, point guard Goran Dragic and forward Bam Adebayo, who left Game 1 of the best-of-seven series with injuries and were not able to play on Saturday morning.

Sixteen-time All-Star James was the game’s leading scorer, contributing 33 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, while teammate Anthony Davis continued his stellar run in his first-ever NBA Finals, adding 32 points and 14 rebounds.

“Sometimes (James and Davis) are feeding each other. Sometimes they are destroying their own man, and sometimes they are making the extra pass to the open man. Both have that elite ability to score and to read defense,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters. “Those two were huge tonight and a big reason for the win.”

The Heat’s All-Star forward Jimmy Butler, who had 25 points and 13 assists, said his teammates “believe in what we do every day,” despite the uphill battle they face in closing a two-game deficit in the best-of-seven series.

“Like I said at the beginning of this thing, we got to play damn near perfect in order to beat those guys over there,” he told reporters.

“We have yet to do it and if we don’t do it soon, it’s not going to be pretty.”