But there’s fire in the Heat yet.
A 40-point triple-double by Miami’s Jimmy Butler saw his team to victory by a margin of 115-104.
The game followed a familiar pattern of the Lakers chasing a double-digit point deficit, before taking the lead by one or two points. The Heat would then surge and reclaim a double-digit lead.
In an echo of Game 1, Miami hit the ground running in the first quarter, taking advantage of sloppy play from the Lakers to take a 22-9 lead in an opening eight minutes that included nine turnovers from the Lakers.
Though the LA team fought back to make it a one-score game, they appeared on the back foot for a large part of the game.
The Heat went into the fourth quarter with a similar double-digit lead and the Lakers were unable to come back this time.
‘You’ve got to empty the tank’
This was on show after the game. Having put in the performance of his career and producing one of the great NBA Finals performances, Butler would be forgiven for talking about himself.
“We realize that we belong. [The Lakers] can be beat as long as we do what we are supposed to do. Come the next game, I know they are going to be so much better. We have got to be able to match that energy.”
“You’ve got to empty the tank on every possession. I’ve got the easy job. These guys create so much space for me, I get to shoot it whenever I’m open, pass it whenever I’m not. I really do have the easy job.
“But none of us, none of us are ever going to leave anything in the tank. We’re going to lay it all out there on the floor.”
“He just played tremendous for us, he did everything. He ran the offense, made play after play, bucket after bucket. Defensively, guarding LeBron, he made it tough on him. Being a leader out there, and we all followed him.”