The 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers have attained basketball immortality as they have captured the 2020 NBA title with a win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
LeBron James led the way with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, Anthony Davis finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and three assists while dominating defensively and Rajon Rondo (19), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (17) and Danny Green (11) combined for 47 points.
For Miami, Bam Adebayo scored a team-high 25 points (on 10-for-15 shooting) while Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder scored 12 points apiece. Duncan Robinson, who scored 10 points, was the only other Heat player to finish in double figures.
Here are some takeaways from the Lakers title-clinching win.
Los Angeles finishes the job
JOB'S FINISHED: YOUR LOS ANGELES LAKERS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS pic.twitter.com/Dnxtgt9i1d
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 12, 2020
And in the process, the Los Angeles Lakers have rewritten the history books.
In winning the 2020 NBA title, the Lakers franchise now has won 17 championships, tying the Boston Celtics for most titles in league history. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers have won 11 championships, which leads the league in that span.
A 17th banner will soon hang in the Staples Center.
Count to four
2012. 2013. 2016. 2020.
Make that four championships and four Finals MVPs in 17 years for LeBron James, who has exceeded the lofty expectations placed upon him as an 18-year-old rookie in 2003. LeBron and teammate Danny Green become the third and fourth players to win a championship with three different teams and James becomes the first player in league history to win Finals MVP for three different franchises.
Now, only Michael Jordan (6) has more Finals MVP trophies than James.
That LeBron is still performing at this level at 35 is a reminder to cherish these moments in watching him because he is the definition of a generational talent.
We'll never see this again.
Closeout LeBron
After his 40 points couldn't get the job done in Game 5, LeBron James was efficient and surgical in Game 6. He recorded his 11th NBA Finals triple-double, finishing with 28 points (on 13-for-20 shooting), 14 rebounds and 10 assists. His 28 postseason triple-doubles are good for second all-time behind only Magic Johnson, who recorded 30.
And he made a number of highlights along the way.
35-year-olds don't typically do this:
Set the tone, King 👑 pic.twitter.com/wv5xIFbIHO
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 11, 2020
Or this:
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 12, 2020
The highlights speak for themselves.
AD dominates defensively
This is why Anthony Davis is one of the league's best big men.
A starting lineup change which replaced Dwight Howard with Alex Caruso meant that Davis would be the Lakers centre to start the game after playing at power forward for the majority of the season and playoffs.
He imposed his will.
You get the feeling that this won't be the last time we see Davis put forth a dominant performance on the championship stage.
Win the first quarter, win the game
At least that was the trend for the entirety of this series.
The winner of each game in the 2020 NBA Finals held a lead after one quarter and Game 6 was no different, as the Lakers took a 28-20 lead into the second quarter. They parlayed that strong start into a dominant second quarter showing.
Speaking of…
Momentum swings for good in the second frame
The Lakers blew this one open in the second quarter.
Not only did LA outscore Miami 36-16, but it also shot 53.8% from the field while limiting its opponent to 7-for-23 (30.4%) shooting. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11) and Rajon Rondo (9) combined for 20 points in the frame, outscoring the Heat on their own, while Anthony Davis added seven points and two blocks in the quarter.
With a 64-36 halftime advantage, it was only a matter of time.
Take a bow, Jimmy Butler
After playing in all but 48 seconds of Game 5, it appeared that Jimmy Butler had nothing left in the tank.
In Game 6, he and the Heat appeared to have run out of steam.
Butler saw just under 45 minutes of action and finished with 12 points (on 5-for-10 shooting), eight assists and seven rebounds. Though this postseason run ended with a blowout loss, Butler put forth some of the most impressive playoff performances this league has ever seen, and it's only the beginning of his time in Miami.
He and the Heat will be back.
Playoff Finals Rondo
Through the first five games of the Finals, Rajon Rondo was averaging 6.6 points, 5.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds while shooting just 28.9% from the field and 23.5% from deep.
He tapped into another mode in the title-clincher.
Rondo was masterful in getting into the lane to finish around the rim, which resulted in his scoring an efficient 19 points (on 8-for-11 shooting), four rebounds and four assists.
Return of the Dragon
After going down in Game 1 with a plantar fascia injury, Goran Dragic missed Games 2 through 5 of the series and it appeared his season may be done.
Instead, Dragic checked in with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
He didn't exactly look like himself but still finished with five points, five rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes of action. That Dragic would play through obvious pain as an impending free agent shows just how much this team means to him and how much he wanted to help his team compete to win a championship.
Witness History.
OK, just one more LeBron James takeaway.
In the history of the NBA, no player has appeared in more postseason games than LeBron, who has never missed a game in the playoffs.
260th playoff game — most in NBA history.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 11, 2020
Never missed a postseason contest. pic.twitter.com/WBb59Xo7j9
Add that to his growing list of records .
What's next?
After beginning over a year ago, the 2019-20 NBA season is officially a wrap
We've got you covered with what's next for both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat.
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