NBA Finals: Miami Heat ties series 1-1 with Nuggets
NBA Finals: Kevin Love watched Game 6 and Game 7 against the Boston Celtics from the sidelines for the Miami Heat, dressed in home white and road black. He watched the first game of the NBA Finals against Denver without even logging a minute. The Heat dusted off their 34-year-old stretch forward off the bench and into the starting lineup for Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, helping Miami jump out to a 21-10 lead in the opening quarter.
Love didn’t have an answer to slow down Nikola Jokic, who would go on to have an impressive performance with 41 points and 11 rebounds. Love was not Miami’s leading scorer. But Miami’s extra size helped him cope with Denver’s rotation offense. Love, who had 6 points and 10 rebounds, helped spread the floor even further for the Heat’s own pass-happy scoring attack, making 17-of-35 3-pointers in Miami’s 111-108 win over the Nuggets, united to join. 1-1 in this championship series.
Max Strauss drilled his first three triples in the opening period after missing all 10 of his attempts from the field in Game 1. The Heat’s standout point guard Gabe Vincent connected on a team-high 4-of-6 from beyond the arc en route. 23 points. Duncan Robinson scored 8 points in the first minute of the fourth quarter to help Miami continue the first half tale of bench units and reverse the script of the game.
Miami missed just one shot in the first 7 minutes of the final frame, with a 12–4 run by Bam Adebayo’s end-1 layup that matched the Heat’s biggest lead from the first quarter, a 104–93 advantage. Was.
Both teams overcame double-digit deficits to sound the horn after intermission when the pace slowed like car tires screeching through the mud, which is where this Miami team worked itself out all season Found it to be There was a marked increase in physicality throughout the Heat defense with Adebayo, especially muscular through the paint against Jokic’s vigorous bulldozing.
Miami was in danger of falling when Jokic passed, as they did in Game 1, when the two-time MVP had 14 assists. This affair, in this second half, the Heat sent second defender after second defender on Jokic on elbows and blocks. Denver’s supporting cast of shooters, however, could not take advantage when the ball took their turn.
The first half highlight, a tic-tac-toe sequence in which Murray beat Jokic, who made a one-handed pass to Aaron Gordon at the baseline for an easy layup, was an afterthought against the Heat’s second-half defense. . ,
Jokic still clawed his way to points, but there was little rhythm to the Nuggets’ scoring effort that felt very balanced and comfortable for later this season. Jamal Murray led Denver in the second quarter while Jokic rested and hit a flurry of 3-pointers in crunch time, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope posted a quiet 6 points on just four attempts for the game.
Michael Porter Jr., a 2018 lottery pick who has overcome issues with shot selection and defensive caution, made his way into a number of questionable formations and was lost deep in Vincent’s wide-open form, his throwing in Miami’s works. lost job About this .
Credit to Adebayo, who took the brunt of Jokic’s powerful shoulders in the restricted area and shot 8-of-14 for a stellar two-way performance with 21 points and 9 rebounds.
Adebayo’s efficiency as a scorer has waned during Miami’s run to the Finals, but in contests in which he’s driving downhill with buckets on his mind, he’s always seemed handy to the Heat’s overall pursuit of a title. Is. Is. Is. Jimmy Butler added 7 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, knocking down a corner triple and two baskets off the dribble in midrange.
The series moves back to Miami for Game 3 on Wednesday. It appeared that Love would remain in the Heat’s starting lineup, a position in which he replaced Caleb Martin, who was on the bench during the Eastern Conference Finals.
Martin missed practice over the weekend and was questionable for the game due to illness, but played 21 minutes, shooting 1-3 for 3 points. A return to home court, where supporting shooters get familiar bounces from the rim, and a few days for key contributors like Martin to appear — as well as the potential return of scoring guard Tyler Herro — mean this series isn’t over yet. ,
