Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat win Game 2 in Denver, evening the NBA Finals

Max Strus uncorked the Heat’s offense in the first quarter, scoring 12 of the Heat’s first 26 points. Nuggets were caught in pindowns or, in some instances, left him unbothered as he fired away on the perimeter.

In the fourth quarter, Duncan Robinson lit up the Nuggets for 10 points on four of five shots. Fearing his release, the hosts lost their wits, leaving the ground on fakes, which gave Dunc the opening in his sights. The Heatles entered this period down eight but took control fewer than two minutes into it and finished the interval making 11 of 16 shots.

But in between, the Nuggets ascended to a 15-point lead in the first half behind drive-and-kick plays, fastbreak scores, pick and roll, plus some tough turnaround baskets by Jamal Murray and Christian Braun in the post.

Nikola Jokic reached his spots easily, hitting driving layups, hooks, and jumpers in mainly single coverage with Bam Adebayo or Cody Zeller when #13 rested. To go along with 13 on his scorecard, the once back-to-back MVP supplied four rebounds and three dimes.

The Joker’s minions in the first half were Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon. They were used like wide receivers as Jokić found them cutting through the middle or on the baseline. On one play, when Miami doubled him at the elbow, he flicked his wrist, and Gordon soared through the air like Megatron (Calvin Johnson) used to and finished the lob.

By the intermission, Miami had chopped Denver’s lead to 57-51. Drop coverage killer Gabe Vincent and Strus had over half the Heat’s points. Jimmy Butler scored 11 by driving and spinning past Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, plus nailing a baseline fadeaway over Jokić and a corner triple in front of Braun.

In the second half, the Heatles converted 54.3% of its tries, 50% of 3-point attempts and 13 of 14 free throws.

Butler was ineffective, missing his first five attempts of quarter three. As crunch time approached, his offense flipped like a light switch, converting another corner 3-pointer and a fouled baseline jumper.

Adebayo got loose after setting screens for a pop shot at the nail and a menacing jam post drive.

In the last five minutes, the Nuggets splashed three triples, stinging the Heat for overcommitting to Jokić and Murray. Yet, on the last play, the hosts were down three with seconds left. Unsurprisingly, the Heat decided to defend the ball straight up instead of fouling in the bonus to send the Nuggets to the line for two attempts. Butler stayed in front of the ball and forced Murray into a tough unsuccessful left-wing triple.

The visitors survived, winning 111-108.

Coach Michael Malone arrived at the postgame presser and snitched on his team’s effort when asked about his starters, not named Jokić, struggling to score.

“Let’s talk about effort,” Malone said. “This is the NBA Finals and we are talking about effort. That’s a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn’t play well…”

Malone’s analysis is likely spot on, yet it is an unnecessary risk for him to publicly burn his squad when one guy played over 40 minutes, and two others almost crossed the threshold. It’s also a bad look because Denver could have called a timeout, but it let Murray attempt to freestyle his way to the tie. If his guys lost their heart late, he lost his brain.

In the winning side’s press room, coach Erik Spoelstra praised the role players and how the team’s offense operated. He also shot down the idea that the way to neutralize Jokić is to make him a scorer instead of a passer.

“That’s ridiculous,” Spoelstra said as he rubbed his face. “It’s the untrained eye that says something like that. This guy is an incredible player. Twice in two seasons, he’s been the best player on this planet. You can’t just say,‘Oh, make him a scorer.’ That’s not how they play. They have so many different actions that just get you compromised. We have to focus on what we do…”

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