Lakers capture 17th NBA title, James improves case vs Jordan as all-time best

Orlando: The Los Angeles Lakers dominated the Miami Heat 106-93 on Sunday to win a record-equalling 17th NBA championship but their first in a decade.

Superstar LeBron James fueled the Lakers with a triple-double of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, capturing his fourth NBA title with a third different team after his team close out the series 4-2.

Anthony Davis added 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Lakers completed a four-games-to-two triumph in the best-of-seven NBA Finals more than eight months after the death in a helicopter crash of team legend Kobe Bryant -- who led the Lakers to their last title in 2010.

The Lakers out-hustled, out-muscled and out-played the Heat, making sure it wouldn’t come down to any last-gasp effort as it did when they were denied in game five on Friday.

Los Angeles had blown it open by halftime, their 36 second-quarter points equalling the Heat’s entire first half total as the Lakers took a 64-36 lead into the break.

Four Lakers players had scored in double-figures by halftime. Rajon Rondo was a perfect six-for-six from the floor in the first half as the Lakers built the second-largest halftime lead in NBA Finals history.

Rondo, who won a title with the Celtics in 2008, scored 19 points off the bench. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 17 and Danny Green scored 11.

The Lakers’ 17 titles pulled them level with the Boston Celtics for the most all-time.

As the first player to lead three different teams to NBA titles, James has revived the question of whether he or Michael Jordan is the league’s greatest-ever superstar.

“I don’t know,” James said. “I’m going to let you guys talk about it.”

James was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the fourth time. The only player with more finals MVP awards is Jordan with six.

Jordan won six titles in six NBA Finals appearances for the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s, taking most of two seasons off between two three-peats to pursue a baseball career after his father’s death.

Jordan’s game evolved over time, the high-leaping playmaker who could single-handedly dominate foes giving way to a veteran who could get the most from every teammate and help carry the load during his second title trilogy.

Taking full advantage of the era of big money and free agency that Jordan largely created, James maximized his money and turned multiple teams into champions, his role evolving over the years as did his supporting cast.

Where James is clearly king is off the court. His education initiatives and social activism are a far cry from Jordan’s infamous comment that “Republicans buy sneakers too,” when asked why he was not more politically active.

If mere titles alone decided the greatest NBA player, dominant 1960s Boston big man Bill Russell would own the tag with 11, more than Jordan and James combined, in 13 seasons.

However, it was Jordan who took the NBA global by leading the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team” to Barcelona gold, with James responding to a sub-par bronze effort in 2004 by sparking US gold medal runs in 2008 and 2012.

Agence France-Presse