The NFL season is approaching its halfway point, and the sample size we need to truly evaluate teams is large enough to where we can draw early conclusions about who is real and who is not.

This year, the league is not wide-open.  Instead, a bunch of good teams crowd the top.  Legitimate cases can be made for seven teams to win the Super Bowl.  Below is the argument for each.

1. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are mostly here out of respect.  It would be cute and perhaps professional to give this spot to Seattle – whom the narrative has followed all year thanks to Russell Wilson’s undisputed MVP candidacy.  But it would also be unwise to not give Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City their due.  Mahomes is the most talented quarterback this game has seen, and the Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions.  They’re still ranked first in Football Outsiders’ offensive DVOA, despite seeming not nearly as dominant this season.  They’re taking care of bad teams and winning against good ones.  Their defense is still costing them at times, as evident in their 40-32 loss against the Raiders in Week 5.  The Chiefs may not feel like they deserve to be here, but they do.  Plus, Le’Veon Bell is still coming, which could make the best offense in football even better.  Seattle’s reinvention is scary, but their defensive issues could plague them.  Kansas City’s aren’t much better, but we’ve at least seen them be overcome in the past.

             2. Seattle Seahawks

Seattle might be the easiest Super Bowl shoe-in out of any team on this list right now because of the odd Kansas City resistance.  They’re most of the NFL media’s darling thanks to Wilson’s MVP-caliber season and the emergence of wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.  Defense be damned, Seattle is dotting up secondaries by actually treating Wilson like the quarterback he is.  Their lack of aggression over the years was justifiable until the arrival and ascension of Metcalf, who finally gave Wilson someone else to throw to aside from Tyler Lockett.  The duo has made Wilson an unstoppable force, as the Seahawks have shied away from their run-heavy tendencies to completely unlock their quarterback and offense.

Their defense is concerning though.  The newly-acquired Carlos Dunlap will look to help the Seahawks fill the void at pass-rusher, though one non-superstar’s impact could be limited.  Their ranking of 28th in defensive DVOA is the reason they fall behind Kansas City in this power poll – the closest team on the DVOA list that is as good as the Seahawks are is the Packers, who rank 22nd.  The teams that fall in between: Carolina, Cleveland, New England, Cincinnati and Atlanta – none of whom can seriously be called contenders right now.  Seattle is getting by, but it’s reasonable to wonder how sustainable that is, whether the offense keeps up its torment or not.

            3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Giving Tom Brady the best defense in the league by DVOA standards was a great idea for the Buccaneers and a bad idea for everyone else.

The reason Tampa Bay finds itself third behind Seattle and Kansas City lies in their sudden stutters in offensive production.  A good New Orleans defense shut them down in Week 1, and the Bears rejuvenated group did so in Week 5.  Those are both top 10 groups, but for an offense that probably should be the best in football given its overall talent, those games are a little concerning.  Seattle and Kansas City haven’t had teams shut them truly down yet through Week 7.

Still, the Bucs have to be taken seriously.  It’s extremely hard to bet against Brady for any reason, let alone when his roster (and most importantly, his weapons) are loaded.  Antonio Brown should only add to it, unless he doesn’t for non-football reasons.  Doubting Brady last year was reasonable – his ability to overcome a bad situation dissipated.  But Tampa Bay has put him in the best possible situation in 2020, and it could wind up with Brady playing for an unprecedented seventh ring.

            4. Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers and Brady were similar last season.  People claimed they were washed or weren’t as good as previously thought.  Neither had a good supporting cast of receivers.  Even though record indicated otherwise, they and their team’s performance was underwhelming.

Both have overcome it.  For different reasons, Rodgers and Brady have put last season’s narrative to bed, and while Brady’s bunch is ranked ahead of Rodgers’, the Packers quarterback’s season might be more impressive.

That’s because there’s no real reason for Rodgers’ supposed improvement this year. It’s practically the same Green Bay team aside from it being Matt LeFluer and his offense’s second year, which allows everyone to be more comfortable in it.  Aside from that, the Packers are running out the same weapons we complained about last year.  Green Bay’s rookies in the backfield haven’t been game-changers.  The defense still isn’t great, ranking 22nd in defensive DVOA thus far after finishing 15th last season.  

There’s only two real answers: Rodgers and the rest of the receiving core becoming more comfortable in LeFluer’s system (Most notably Robert Tonyan, who’s becoming the latest Green Bay tight end to be a favorite target of Rodgers) or the drafting of Jordan Love lighting a fire under Rodgers’ rear.  Both explanations are quite cliche and boring, but the shift of Rodgers looking washed to becoming a MVP candidate again lies in within one of them.

            5. Baltimore Ravens

Is Baltimore being treated on this list how Kansas City is amongst most?  Possibly. The Ravens, like the Chiefs, aren’t much different this year compared to last.  It’s just because their newness and shock value has wore off.  We know what to expect with Baltimore now.

And yet, we’re still sometimes let down.

The big game lack of success is real with the Ravens.  It starts with Jackson’s rookie season and the playoff game against the Chargers – where Baltimore managed just seven points and couldn’t top San Diego’s 10.  Jackson was reduced to a shell of himself and wasn’t able to affect the game in ways he typically does.  The same issue occurred in last year’s playoffs against Tennessee, where the offense failed to kick into gear despite torching teams all season. And just this year, Kansas City asserted their dominance in Week 3 on Monday Night Football in a game where Jackson didn’t stand a chance matching the Chiefs’ offensive firepower.

Sunday stands as a big test for the Ravens.  They face the 6-0 Steelers, who are forthcoming on this list.  It’s almost a make or break game for the purposes of this list for each team.  If Baltimore falls to the two toughest opponents on their schedule (KC and Pittsburgh), how can we take them seriously as contenders?  

             6. Tennessee Titans 

Arguably the most unexpected team on this list, the Titans recently had a two-game stretch where they looked like serious Super Bowl contenders.  They obliterated the Bills on that weird Tuesday night game in Week 5 and won in OT against the Texans – who had their best performance of the year – in back-to-back weeks before Pittsburgh’s defense shut them down in Week 7.  

It’s possible we’re overrating Tennessee due to the shock value they’ve provided us since Ryan Tannehill took over at quarterback.  Never before has Tannehill played as well as he has since being traded to the Titans, and the former Dolphins QB being anything better than average still feels a little off.  There’s a case it shouldn’t be – the Titans have given Tannehill better weapons (and better coaching, too) than he ever had in Miami.  Maybe this is just what QBs of Tannehill’s caliber need to succeed.  An awesome running back (Derrick Henry) and at least two awesome pass-catchers (AJ Brown and Jonnu Smith) certainly helps.

Even after last week’s contest, Tennessee gets the nod over Pittsburgh because of a slightly harder schedule (in terms of opponents and because of COVID-19’s effect) and a more dynamic offense.  The Steelers defense is the second-best in football per DVOA and that’s no statistical fluke.  But Tennessee subsequently ranks third in offensive DVOA, and riding with an offense that is getting above-average QB play rather than just average is a bet worth making – even if it is Tannehill at the helm.

             7. Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh’s deficiencies were covered above, but they absolutely need to be included in the short list of contenders thanks to a ferocious defense that was consistently let down by the other side of the ball last year.  

Now, that’s not the case anymore, even though the Steelers rank 17th in offensive DVOA.  But for Pittsburgh’s chances overall, the offense still remains a viable question mark.

Despite the emergence of rookie Chase Claypool as the latest dominant Steeler wide-out, Ben Roethlisberger is averaging just 6.8 yards per pass attempt this year, ranking 26th out of 32 eligible quarterbacks per ESPN.com.  That’s not exactly ideal, considering that Claypool is just one of three legitimate receivers Roethlisberger has to throw to, with JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington also on the roster.  He’s got everything he needs to make up for any age regression, and it still doesn’t seem to be enough.

That said, the Steelers are 6-0 and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  The defense has proved it’s good enough to not just get the team to the average mark but well past it.  Defenses like that don’t come around often, and that exact formula has worked many times before.

The comments from Alex Smith say a lot about the injury Dak Prescott suffered Sunday.  Smith hadn’t established contact because he didn’t want to freak Prescott out.  He didn’t want him to think that he was heading down Smith’s terrifying and simultaneously unforgettable road.

Prescott isn’t in Smith’s situations – according to articles that have featured real doctors as sources – but he’s not exactly in a great one either.  This is not a hamstring, core muscle, collarbone or even an ACL – which is an injury that used to be a death sentence and thanks to technology has turned into just a one year deal.  Prescott’s ankle was turned the wrong way – his sock saving his and our eyes from his bone protruding from his leg.  This might be something Prescott can move on and recover from, but he’ll move on before teams – Dallas or not – do.

This unequivocally sucks for Prescott, but it does for the Cowboys too, no matter how you feel about their handling of Prescott’s contract.  Sure, this could be chalked up as karma to Jerry Jones and the rest of the Cowboys “front office.”  But Prescott’s injury robs them of the chance to truly and finally evaluate whether Prescott is their guy or not.  Some of their balking the past couple offseasons has been justified.  Even pre-injury, $40 million per year for Prescott seemed a little steep.  Jones is a businessman, and he’s looking at Prescott’s ask to be second-highest paid QB in football as preposterous when the player probably slides in somewhere between eighth and thirteenth-best in the league, depending on how you factor in rookies.

Yet, Prescott isn’t average.  He may not be an elite quarterback, but he’s above-average, and ridiculous pay-days are the going rate for guys that rank in that tier.  Dallas could be paying Kirk Cousins that money instead.

The Cowboys are about to find out what paying for average looks and feels like.  While Andy Dalton is only making $8 million this season, even the talented offense around him – and the good group on defense when healthy – isn’t enough to prop him up to a level where he can lead Dallas to their initial expectations for this season.  Dalton, especially in front of a Cowboys offensive line that has been a shell of itself, is what a potential and likely Prescott replacement looks like.  That should make the Joneses woozy.

The resistance the Cowboys likely had to paying Prescott was that they possibly wouldn’t get over the hump with him under center and with talent around him on both sides.  Now, Dallas doesn’t have that proof (or lack thereof it) heading into negotiations with Prescott after this season.  If Prescott and the Cowboys performed up to expectations this season, the franchise wouldn’t have a choice.  They’d have to pay up. If they fell short, perhaps it would have been smart for Dallas to part ways.  Now, the two are in a no-mans land neither saw coming.

Dallas certainly has more leverage now, as awful as that is to write.  Frankly, so does every other team in the league.  Prescott’s done for the season and won’t play again.  How good does a team feel handing over a massive, $100 million-plus contract to someone who – the last time he was in pads – had his ankle turned the wrong way with a bone piercing his skin?

That’s where this hits hard for Prescott – that’s what those tears represented Sunday as he was getting carted off.  Not only was it the burden of his brother’s suicide and the mental struggles he had after the tragedy.  Not only was it the grief he took for being vulnerable about it.  Not only was it that the relationship between him and the Cowboys seemed to be getting ugly.  It was that instead of one team feeling a certain way about him, 29 more had now likely joined.

Perhaps the offers will be there come spring.  It seems unlikely that teams will be ready to hand Prescott a multi-year, lucrative contract despite past performance, though.  It’s an injury that could make him never the same guy again.  Gordon Hayward has yet to return to his normal self after his devastating dislocated ankle and broken leg in 2017.  Though Prescott and Hayward have different injuries and play different sports, the trauma from it has seemed to be Hayward’s barrier since his return, along with other unlucky breaks.

There seems to be less situations like Hayward’s and more that trend toward positive outcomes, though.  Though they also play different sports, Jursurf Nurkic and Caris LeVert both had horrifying leg injuries and returned back to their peak, albeit one much faster than the other.  Then Cowboys receiver Allen Hurns had a similar injury in 2019 and returned to his peak the season after.  And then there’s obviously Smith, who had a different injury, different complications and ultimately a different situation completely than the others but rallied.

Still, signing someone after an injury similar to Hayward’s and Prescott’s is a risk.  In the Celtics case with Hayward, they signed him and then the injury occurred.  They were tied to his rehab and ultimately his lack of return to form.  With Prescott, teams can choose not to bind themselves to that.

That could put him in a situation similar to the one Cam Newton was in this offseason.  Teams won’t bite big until they see it – until they confirm injuries haven’t derailed the players career to the point where its irreversible.  A one year deal for Prescott – no matter who it’s from – is low risk for teams no matter what the cost is.  No one gets locked in at big money.  If a team signs Prescott, it probably won’t be to bench him.  That way, they money doesn’t go to waste whether it produces results or not.

Prescott’s injury unfortunately brings his future contract down to the Cowboys level, and potentially well below it.  In the worst way possible, this broke right for Dallas.  They wanted Prescott at a much lower price, and they’re probably going to get it.  The question is whether teams around the league challenge them on it.  The reality is that every team – Dallas or not – is taking a leap of faith in doing so.

For all the excuses being made about the Los Angeles Lakers run to the 2020 NBA title, the event itself is still quite stunning.  Sure, the Lakers missed out on playing the crosstown Clippers, who were widely seen as the title favorites entering the year and held that distinction throughout.  Sure, they didn’t have to face Giannis Antentokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, who would have presented serious problems for LeBron James’ team and arguably would have matched up better with LA than Miami did, even though the Bucks fell to the Heat in the second round.  Sure, James and the Lakers got practically a whole offseason’s worth of time off before beginning the playoffs and winning the title.  And sure, the Heat had one member of their crunch-time five practically miss the entire NBA Finals and another miss two games of it.

But the Lakers also had these things going against them: Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee playing legitimately big minutes en route to the title.  The bubble’s eventually toxic atmosphere and the mental toll it exhibited on those left in it for the season’s final days.  The loss of the franchise’s icon of Kobe Bryant back in January, and the weight that fell on everyone in the organization.  

This title counts – unequivocally.  Below are the reasons the Lakers won these Finals.  They also help explain why the 2020 championship matters.

Anthony Davis took matters into his own hands

One of the biggest keys for the Lakers and Davis in this series was to put Bam Adebayo in situations on the court he wasn’t comfortable in.  Adebayo’s height disadvantage against Davis was paramount.  Davis made sure he towered over the Heat’s young, bouncy center in any way possible throughout the series.  Davis could pull-ups and jump-shots from practically anywhere on the court against Miami and Adebayo.  No one could contest it.

Davis also used his size to get the rim, a part of his game that’s unprecedented among almost anyone in league history.  What seven-foot center is doing stuff like this?

Even though Davis didn’t have Miami’s best option on him above, would things really have been different with Adebayo on him?  Sure, Adebayo’s switching is the best part of his game, but once again, the size advantage Davis has likely would have mattered more.

Davis had a serious case for Finals MVP.  There was no wrong answer – though the unanimous ballot in favor of James was surprising.  Not only was Davis a monster on offense, but his presence defensively halted Miami’s offense in the close-out Game 6 Sunday night.  Throwing Davis right in the middle forced Miami’s drive and kick to rely solely on threes, which resulted in Goran Dragic going 0-4 and Jae Crowder going 1-5 from beyond the arc.

Given that there was little room between Davis and James, the real MVP of the Finals might have been Lakers head coach Frank Vogel instead.

The Lakers got hot shooting the ball, and every night, a third-best player emerged

No matter what the circumstances were, it’s quite incredible the Lakers third option throughout these Finals was never Danny Green.  That’s was exactly what Los Angeles paid him to do last summer, and he ended up turning in a six game average of 28.9 percent from three.  The Lakers still won.

That’s because playoff Rondo emerged.  That’s because Caldwell-Pope turned into the guy we always hoped he’d be in Detroit.  That’s because Frank Vogel got those two to buy-in, and play for the team and not themselves.

Rondo’s three-point shooting was the biggest x-factor.  While it was still a mere 33.3 percent, that’s competent instead of below-average or detrimental.  This allowed Rondo to be effective without the ball in his hands – a revolutionary change from the regular season.

Rondo owning the ball wasn’t a bad thing, either, representing another change from the regular season.  He put up 5.5 assists per game as the secondary playmaker to James.  He got the ball to those who needed it.  He was, in essence, a perfect backup point guard.

If one was going to pick the Heat in this series, they’d point to LA’s reliance on guys like Rondo or Caldwell-Pope – both of whom would likely be the seventh or eighth-best player on Miami’s roster.  

Caldwell-Pope instead turned into a three-and-D monster.  Well over half of his shots were threes in the Finals (63.3 percent), and he turned in three 15+ point outings in six games, all while keeping his usage percentage at an impressively low 18.3 percent.

None of these performances were the reason the Lakers won.  But it certainly gave James and Davis some breathing room.

The super-stardom of the Davis and James duo overpowered 

Davis possibly deserving the Finals MVP shouldn’t discredit James’ performance.  Game 5’s war with Jimmy Butler was one of the best games he’s ever had in the playoffs.  His threes in the third quarter kept the Lakers in it, and Butler just won the battle.

After being passive late in Game 3, James adjusted and dominated.  His constant drives to the rim in Game 6 were unstoppable.  Game 1 had more to do with Miami’s injuries, but James at times made it seem like the Heat didn’t have a chance regardless. 

Davis was a two way menace in the series.  His Game 2 made the series feel like it was over, given Miami’s injuries and overall lack of answers.  With Adebayo out, Davis used his athleticism to hang around the rim more – an area where Adebayo would’ve stood more of a chance.  The former Hornet/Pelican missed five shots, and tipped in every ball that fell off the rim.  It was a completely dominant performance – one that you’d wish to see from somebody like Joel Embiid more.

The no-show in Miami’s Game 3 win likely hurt his Finals MVP case.  After Game 2, the performance could be understandable, but James never took a game off against the Heat.  Davis did, and it likely cost him a single vote.  

Game 6 won’t make any headlines, considering that the Lakers won the title by blowing Miami out, but Davis neutralized the Dragic-Adebayo pick-and-roll that initially hurt the Lakers early in Game 1 by hunkering down just below the free throw line and denying any lanes with his long arms.  Miami ran the set once Sunday night and it failed .  That was the end of the Heat’s use of it.

These Finals proved – as they usually do – that stars matter.  Davis and James proved that if you have them two, nothing else you have matters.  They’re good enough to make up for whatever else the roster has.  Could it have been easier?  Sure.  That might be something the Lakers address this offseason after swinging big and missing on Kawhi Leonard last summer.  But James and Davis proved this year that they don’t need it.  They’re that good.

Injuries

Like last season, injuries had an unfortunate and profound effect on the Finals.  The losses Miami suffered in Game 1 gave the series a bit of an inevitability.  Reports that trickled out during the game indicated Dragic was likely not returning (making his Game 6 appearance a miracle).  Adebayo was guaranteed to miss at least Game 2.  After the drubbing early in the series, it felt like Miami really had no chance, making Butler’s Game 5 performance that more special.

Essentially, it’s hard to say that the injuries might have mattered.  After watching the destruction that Davis and James reeked, it really seemed like Miami wouldn’t have had a chance regardless.  It’s possible they could have forced a Game 7, in which anything could happen, but that’s hard to imagine after the no show from them in Game 6.

To those that will look for ways to discredit this title for James, you can’t bring up the injuries or the “easy” path the Lakers had.  Butler legitimately out-dueled James in Game 5.  Miami beat Milwaukee not totally out of luck but out of work and effort on the defensive end.  The Clippers – sure, the Lakers might have gotten lucky there.  But with the way Paul George was playing, and the lack of answers Montrezl Harrell and Ivica Zubac had for Nikola Jokic, would that series really have been won by the Clippers?  It’s fair to say Adebayo did a good job against Davis in the Finals compared to what the Clippers bigs would have looked like.

The case to dismiss James’ fourth ring needs to have these arguments propping it up: 1) James had five months between the regular season and playoffs – the length of a normal offseason.  2) Anthony Davis was a top-three MVP candidate and arguably outplayed him in the Finals.

You can’t use injuries.  Recent Finals that have been heavily affected by injuries don’t have the same reputation.  We don’t undervalue Golden State’s first title in 2015 because Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love got hurt.  We consistently talked about Kawhi Leonard’s quest to be one of the few players ever to be the best player on three different title teams this season, which means counting his 2019 Finals win and performance last year against a banged up Warriors group.  Nobody batted an eye at that.

Even the five-month layoff case has its flaws.  We don’t hold James’ first Miami title in a state of flux because the season was only 66 games instead of 82.  Nobody says that Tim Duncan has only four rings instead of five because of the 50-game 1998-99 season.

It’s hard to say whether 16 games less or 32 games less (in the case of 98-99) equals five months of rest.  There’s no science to drill that down.  Plus, everything else going on throughout the 2020 season and its playoffs could make the mental task of this title more grueling, completely negating the positive effect of the five month layoff.

In the end, we should evaluate the injury what-if from Miami’s point of view, not the Lakers.  We – and Heat fans – will always fall back on “If they were healthy in the 2020 Finals”, which is in the same regard that Cavaliers fans hold 2015 in and Warriors fans hold 2019.  Instead of saying that the Lakers got lucky, say the Heat got unlucky.  No matter what, arguing about it doesn’t matter.  James still isn’t the GOAT quite yet.  But he’s much closer than anyone on the Michael Jordan bandwagon would ever hope he’d be, and soon, it’s going to become undeniable. 

The Lakers could not afford Game 3’s loss to Miami Sunday night.  Rumors swirled about Bam Adebayo’s availability prior to tip-off after the neck injury he sustained in Game 1.  Even without Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who’s return at any point in the series seems unlikely, the Heat have ways to win.  Jimmy Butler made that quite clear.

The Heat’s 115-104 win makes the return of Adebayo much more viable – giving them a massive weapon to truly unveil at some point in these NBA Finals, even if it be in a Game 5 down 3-1 in the series.  A re-arrival from the bouncy center in Game 4 should put the Lakers on edge.  Not only does Adebayo pack another punch offensively for the Heat (he would have been a major asset in Game 2 offensively, where Miami didn’t have enough to counter onslaughts from Anthony Davis and LeBron James) – he offers the best defense Miami has against Davis.

That isn’t saying too much though.  Davis was still a problem in Game 1 when matched up with Adebayo.  He couldn’t replicate the incredible stronghold he put on Giannis Antentokounmpo in the second round.  Davis pulled up for jump-shots instead and drained them.  The wingspan advantage of five inches made up well.

Almost subconsciously, the absence of Adebayo was there in Game 2.  Davis missed five shots, putting up 32 points and 14 boards.  It felt like 50 points and 20 rebounds instead.  The Lakers maintained a double digit lead while Butler willed himself to 25 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists.

Davis cost himself and his team in Game 3.  The Heat really did nothing different from a defensive standpoint with Adebayo out.  In fact, they got lucky Davis didn’t have another Game 2 performance.  Two early fouls saw his minutes decreased.  He had four by the halfway mark of the third quarter.  The Lakers shifted their offense away from him late, likely scared of having him foul out after going on a run and leaving the offense in shambles.  James was good again, but there was a strange passiveness from him on both ends of the court late in the game.  While Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma chipped in off the bench, James can’t be feeding those guys when down just a few possessions late, even if they’re cooking.  Miami’s had just as little of an answer for James as they have Davis this series.  He should have taken advantage.

Now, the Lakers go into Game 4 holding just a one game advantage in the series with Adebayo possibly back in the mix.  Every game Adebayo didn’t play had to be a win for the Lakers.  The matchup advantage was too good for Davis, and Sunday night he squandered it.  Game 1 proved that Adebayo might not be as impactful on Davis as we thought coming into the series, but he likely won’t be allowing a Game 2 type performance.  That’s all the Heat need.

Adebayo’s biggest impact in a potential return is on the offensive side of the ball.  Game 2 was a poor man’s Game 3 from Butler.  He just wasn’t special enough, and didn’t get any sliver of help.  Adebayo can be a major contributor there.

There seems to be pessimism about Dragic’s potential return in this series.  He and Adebayo’s pick-and-roll destroyed the Lakers before their injuries occurred in Game 1.  Dragic was unstoppable getting to the basket, and Adebayo’s athleticism on lobs resulted in tip-in and after tip-in.

If Adebayo is back in Game 4, a good way to get Butler some help would be to swap Butler in for Dragic in the PNR.  Los Angeles will have nightmares about the mid-rangers Butler consistently sank on them in Game 3, and Adebayo will get one of LA’s bigs moving their feet rolling.  That play will force help from Lakers defenders inside, and Adebayo’s a savvy enough passer to make kick-outs to Jae Crowder and Tyler Herro, among others.

Sunday night’s loss was a scary one for the Lakers.  It shouldn’t be surprising if Miami can tie it in Game 4.  They’ve got confidence now, no matter who is on the court for them.  Butler’s on a roll, and he’s too competitive to die out fast.  Those parameters are present whether Adebayo is in the lineup or not.  If he’s playing, a 2-2 series tie almost feels inevitable.  That provides even more time for a potential Dragic return.  If Butler’s play sticks through all of that, Miami quickly evolves into a team that now just needs two wins, not four, and suddenly, them raising the trophy feels a lot more feasible.