People’s champ

Like Atom in the 2011 American science-fiction sports film Real Steel, the 2020 Miami Heat are the people’s champion regardless of what happens in the NBA Finals.

Clad in their Black Mamba jerseys (they were 4-0 wearing the Kobe Bryant designed uniforms), the Lakers were ready to celebrate their 17th NBA championship to tie their bitter rivals the Boston Celtics even before the start of Game 5 last Saturday.

The confetti was on standby, champagne was on ice, and the Larry O’Brien trophy was already in the building. Good thing the stubborn Miami Heat didn’t cooperate to the chagrin of local Lakers and LeBron James fans (sorry Errol Peredo, Rick Brien, Dante Tabora, and Ernie Moises).

If anything, Game 5 of their best-of-seven series against the mighty Los Angeles Lakers proved that Jimmy Butler and company are the epitome of gutsiness and that the never-say-die spirit truly runs in their veins.

Butler, the 30th pick on the 2011 draft (yes, the same year Real Steel hit theaters), went toe to toe against LeBron and willed his rag-tag team to victory. It was very much like how tiny Atom slugged it out against the gargantuan Zeus for the 2020 World Robot Boxing league championship.

Facing elimination for the first time in this playoffs, the owner of Big Face Coffee was really caffeinated at the start of Game 5. He was especially aggressive in the last two minutes, driving to the cup each time for layups or fouls.

However, it was apparent that Butler’s tank was really going on empty in this one. In Miami’s second to the last offensive play, the Heat’s undisputed leader was fouled hard by Markieff Morris and he needed 10 seconds and even leaned on the end-line cushion to rest before taking his free throws (which he converted as he went 12-for-12 in this game).

Despite another herculean effort from Butler, Miami survived only by the skin of their teeth thanks to a missed 3-pointer by Heat killer Danny Green with 2.2 second left. Spur Danny Green would’ve sank that, but at this point in his career Green’s chances of hitting the game-winner are pretty much the same as Alfonso Ribeiro had in that old episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Game 5 was also the long-awaited Duncan Robinson game, as the former Division 3 long-shot ably supported Butler’s 35-point triple double with 26 points of his own, including seven connections from the land of plenty. It’s not a stretch to say that if Twin Towers (in obvious reference to the Spurs’ two legends) didn’t show up in the last game, the Lakers would’ve already been celebrating their 17th championship.

Heat also won thanks to a couple of 4-point plays from Robinson and Jae Crowder and even a 6-point play in the third quarter when Butler made and an-1 after a Dwight Howard flagrant 2 foul and Robinson splashing a 3-pointer the next possession. They needed all of that as The King was at the height of his powers in this game, going for 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists aside from basically bullying everyone in a Heat uniform on his way to the basket in the final minutes (Good thing he passed to Green in the last play).

There was also a rare Kendrick Nunn sighting in the last game, as the undrafted rookie, which the Heat fleeced from the Golden State Warriors, pumped in 14 points in 28 productive minutes off the pine. Nunn’s contributions were crucial as the Heat continued to miss their leading scorer in the playoffs, Goran Dragic.

It will be a miracle if The Dragon ever plays in the series again. But in a perfect world, Miami somehow wins Game 6 and Gogi can do a Willis Reed and make a cameo to inspire the troops—so to speak—in Game 7. Then I will let the basketball gods decide the 2020 NBA championship—junkyard dog vs. pedigreed, tinseltown vs. working class, guts vs. glamor.