LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers won the first game of the 2020 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, never taking their foot off the gas to earn a 116-98 victory on Wednesday night. James doesn’t want this victory to distract him and he keeps focused on the prize, stating the job is not over and that this series is just starting. Following Game 1, James explained the team still has things to do before finishing the job and get the championship.
“We got so much more work to do. The job is not done. We are not satisfied. It’s one game. It’s that simple,” he said.
LeBron explained he’s trying to remain as focused as possible given that he’s blown some big leads in the Finals before. The most famous case happened in Game 2 of the 2011 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks when the Big 3 Miami Heat blew a 15-point lead against Dirk Nowitzki and co.
Just when everybody thought the Heat would go 2-0 in the series, the Mavericks returned from that deficit and tied the series. In the end, they won the championship, beating Miami in six games.
When asked about that moment, Bron said it was a big factor to not let this game slip, even though the Heat threatened with getting closer during the last minutes of the 4th quarter.
“That s—t burns me to this day,” says James, when talking about the 2011 Finals.
Lakers’ LeBron James said he was focused on closing out Finals Game 1 vs. Heat because of memories of blown lead from 2011 Finals Game 2 vs. Mavericks: “That s—- burns me to this day.” pic.twitter.com/5SNQalV78c
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) October 1, 2020
Now he’s facing the Heat and given how well the Lakers have played this offseason, it doesn’t look like they will lose any big advantage during this Finals. James won’t let his 4th ring go just like that. That’s for sure.
