LeBron James made his 10th Finals appearance Wednesday in his 50th game in the championship round.
It stands to reason James might be on this stage surrounded by the strongest cast he’s ever had. The reason? James might not even be the best player on the Lakers.
The Lakers, after a slow start in which they fell behind by 13, punished the Heat with a devastating inside-out performance in a 116-98 win in Game 1. James’ partner Anthony Davis racked up 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 38 minutes in the fan-less Orlando bubble.
Davis, who scored the third-highest point total in a Finals debut in Lakers’ history, admitted he had some nerves. “It’s the first time I’m experiencing this,’’ he said. “I always put pressure on myself.”
The Lakers posted the massacre without needing an early James domination as The King looks for his fourth title. James stayed in the game through much of garbage time and padded his stats to finish with 25 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, leaving with 1:23 left.
”I don’t think at the beginning we were physical enough,’’ James said. “You have to get a feel for how hard Miami plays. They smacked us in the mouth. We know how hard we had to play and we started flying around.”
It was James’ first Finals game sans fans.
As part of the flock of virtual fans, Barack Obama was pictured in the Walt Disney World arena, but the game was over midway through the third quarter when the Lakers built a 32-point lead.
“It felt great — fans, no fans,’’ James said. “There’s an inner challenge for myself to be playing in The Finals once again.’’
The way it’s looking, the Lakers might as well be handed their 17th championship trophy now so everyone can get out of the Orlando quarantine.
It was a complete Heat disaster as starting point guard Goran Dragic didn’t play the second half with a sore left foot and All-Star center Bam Adebayo left for good in the third quarter with a shoulder strain. There was no update on their status for the remainder of a series that resumes Friday with Game 2.
But don’t tell LeBron it’s over.
“We’ve got a lot more work to be done,’’ James said. “We’re not satisfied to win just one game.”
After being up 18 by halftime, the Lakers’ lead swelled to 32 points midway through the third quarter. Lots of garbage time was still left.
“We’re much better than we showed tonight,’’ Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The Lakers set the tenor and tone with force and physicality for the majority of the game. They took control. We weren’t able to get it back.’’
The gold-clad Lakers were fabulous from the 3-point stripe, finishing the first half 11 of 17. This was as much the fault of slow rotations by the Heat defense as eight Lakers drilled at least one 3-point shot. James’ nine first-half points were all that were required as the Heat’s noted bench had an off night. Miami rookie Tyler Herro had a dud of night (2 of 8 from 3).
The Lakers used their size advantage while Davis was a jack of all trades — with Miami’s undersized power forward Jae Crowder noting they can’t send AD to the free-throw line 10 times.
“He’s been preparing for this moment all season,’’ James said of Davis. “I’m glad to be on the floor with him. He was a force offensively and defensively.”
“The bigger the moment, he’s raising his play,’’ Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
Davis believes James’ fourth title would be his most satisfying after the one that broke Cleveland’s title curse in 2016.
“He wants to win very, very badly,’’ Davis said before Game 1. “To be back in the Finals against Miami, I think means a lot more to him winning this than anyone else. I think this championship is probably second behind Cleveland, being able to get this one for him.”
At 35, James hasn’t lost a step in Davis’ eyes.
“It seems like he’s aging backwards and it’s because he takes care of his body,” Davis said.
It started all so well for the Heat, who opened a 23-10 lead with Crowder lighting it up from 3 and James in quiet mode. Then it crashed and burned for Pat Riley’s fifth-seeded underdog. The Lakers outscored Miami 75-30.
Davis and James are amidst a Hollywood marriage made in heaven.
Davis has a chance to opt out after the series and play the field. Davis will likely want to either defend what they believe will be an NBA title. Next season they may even do it with Lakers’ fans packing Staples Center.