Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win game one of the NBA Finals. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat 116-98 in a disastrous game for the Heat. Miami lost and suffered several key injuries to Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic.
Before the Lakers took a comfortable lead, Miami raced out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter. Los Angeles looked lost offensively and LeBron James checked out of the game for his usual rest.
Needing a spark offensively, some open looks fell to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who buried a pair of threes and scored a few points in the paint. KCP helped stave off Miami’s initial onslaught.
Los Angeles, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, didn’t look back from there. The Lakers outscored the Heat 55-25 for the rest of the first half. The Heat never cut the Lakers lead to single digits for the whole second half.
Following the game, Anthony Davis credited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He said that:
“KCP saved us.”
Davis and the Lakers will look to defeat the Heat next on Friday night. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has a large role on the team and plays the third-most minutes for LA. He doesn’t have to shoulder a massive scoring burden, but the team looks for him to step up in some big moments.
Anthony Davis gives credit to KCP for keeping them in the game early in the 1st quarter pic.twitter.com/7bPB4MVmft
— Lakers Outsiders (@LakersOutsiders) October 1, 2020
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