The Los Angeles Lakers have a great opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals heading into Tuesday night’s Game 4 against the Miami Heat. While 3-1 wouldn’t be quite as devastating to the Heat as 3-0 would have been, LeBron James has still yet to lose a series in which he has a 3-1 lead, so the Lakers would feel pretty good. But as the Heat showed in Game 3, nothing will be given.

Anthony Davis’ foul trouble took him out of the game in Game 3 early, but the Lakers role players helped make up some for the lack of offensive output, with Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris each pitching in 18 points. However, Davis’ impact on the glass was minimized and that was probably the biggest area where he didn’t deliver in Game 3. If the Heat can continue to keep him off the glass, they just might be able to even this series if they continue to take care of the ball and stick to their game plan. If they get Bam Adebayo back tonight, their chances to even the series would increase drastically.

How To Watch

Time: 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern

Channel: ABC/ESPN Radio

Spread via BetMGM: Lakers -7.5

Injuries: Heat center Bam Adebayo is currently considered questionable to play, which means it’s a 50-50 shot he actually suits up. Adebayo told reporters before Game 4, as he did before Game 3, that he hopes to play. However, the medical staff ultimately ruled him out before Game 3 so his hopes aren’t the only thing that will determine if he plays tonight or not.

No More Zone

The Heat, save for a few possessions early in Game 3, basically went away from their zone defense completely. At least the 2-3 zone they played in most of the first two games. When they went to a zone early in Game 3, they went to an inverted 3-2 zone that at least confused the Lakers a bit.

What we saw more of from the Heat was a “show and recover” strategy on LeBron James. Rather than switching right away and giving LeBron the easier match-up against the Duncan Robinson’s and Tyler Herro’s of the world, the Heat had the guys he is hunting at least try to pressure the ball for enough time to allow Jimmy Butler to get back. Did it slow down James always? Of course not, but at least made things a little bit harder.

The Heat have to stick to the plan and if Adebayo is at all compromised by the neck injury, it’s on everyone in a Heat uniform to play their butts off like he won’t be able to erase everything, even if he does upon his return in Game 3. For the Lakers, they’ve got to clean up the sloppy turnovers and perhaps with a game to understand the Heat’s new approach, they will know what’s coming enough to not make the same mistakes in Game 4.

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