The Miami Heat made the decision to continue doing what they have done throughout the postseason when they were facing a 2-0 hole in the NBA Finals and were the visitors in a hostile environment where no away team had won in more than two months.
They managed it. In spite of all odds. Again.
The Heat had to overcome Nikola Jokic’s incredible 41-point performance to tie the NBA Finals. The Heat defeated the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night, led by Gabe Vincent’s 23 points, Jimmy Butler’s 21, and Bam Adebayo’s 21.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stated, “Our guys are competitors.” They enjoy times like these.
They were trailing by as many as 15 points and were eight points behind going into the fourth quarter.
Denver was 37-1 this season overall when leading by at least eight heading into the fourth quarter and 11-0 in these playoffs when leading by double digits at any time in a game.
The Heat was unconcerned. They outscored Denver 17-5 in the first 3:17 of the fourth to grab the lead for good, finally increased it to 12 points, then wasted the majority of it, forcing them to hold off Jamal Murray’s last-second 3-point attempt.
The finals are here, according to Adebayo. We eliminated one.
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Wednesday is Miami’s Game 3.
For the Heat, who held a commanding early lead but fell down by as many as 15, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson both scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.
They were helpless against Jokic, who made 16 of 28 shots from the field and hit his final attempt, a 4-footer with 36 seconds left to pull the Nuggets to within three.
Denver made the wise decision to refrain from fouling Miami during the subsequent possession.
Butler missed a 3-point attempt, and Murray missed a last-second 3-point attempt that would have tied the game.
Butler argued, “I just refuted it.” I’m actually pleased he missed it.
Denver suffered its first home defeat since March 30 and its first in any of its 10 home postseason games this season.
And much like he did following a victory in Game 1, Nuggets coach Michael Malone issued a warning following a defeat in Game 2.
Malone said, “Let’s talk about effort. “I mean, we’re talking about effort, and this is the NBA Finals. I have serious concerns about that.
When I claimed we didn’t play well in Game 1, you folks undoubtedly assumed I was making up a plot.
We struggled to play well. Not the preseason here. The regular season is not now. It’s the NBA Finals right now.
Aaron Gordon scored 12 points, Bruce Brown scored 11, and Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver.
They simply played hard, and as I mentioned, there was greater discipline, according to Murray.
When you keep making mistakes and they don’t beat you but instead get easy dunks or baskets, it’s discouraging. It’s difficult to recover from it.
Strus made four 3-pointers in the first quarter in Game 2 after going 0 for 10 in Game 1.
Butler’s jump shot gave Miami a 21-10 lead with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter, tying the second-largest advantage any opponent had amassed in Denver thus far in these playoffs.
It vanished in an instant and then some.
Over the course of the following nine minutes, the Nuggets outscored Miami 32-11, turning a double-digit deficit into a double-digit advantage thanks to an unrelenting 3-point onslaught.
Denver scored four three-pointers in a 70-second span early in the second quarter, outscoring Miami by nine minutes.
Denver’s four three-pointers came from four different players: Brown, Jeff Green, Murray, and Gordon.
Denver led 44-32 after the frenzy, which Murray ended with five consecutive points. Everything appeared to be working in Denver’s favor.
Miami argued the opposite. Additionally, the Heat won a game by five points or less for the 44th time this season. This one was the largest of them all.
