2023-06-07 02:09:58
The Heat are back in the game. With rediscovered address, almost 50% behind the arc, and a fierce defense, which only bent under the weight of Nikola Jokic, vainly ultra-dominant with 41 points, Miami equalized by winning at Denver (111-108) Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday.
It is well known, the Heat lacks neither pride, nor fighting spirit, nor breath. And it’s not because the Nuggets receive at “Mile High City”, so nicknamed because it culminates at a mile (1,609 m) above sea level, that it was going to prevent Erik Spoelstra’s team from showing their best face. to regain the advantage of the floor.
And, to situate the performance, Miami, which had not won in Colorado since 2016, inflicted on Denver its first defeat at home in these play-offs.
Denver coach back against his players
“This one we went looking for with guts! “, exclaimed at the microphone of NBA TV Bam Adebayo, who knows what it takes as intensity to win this type of game so important, he who was bruised by the failure on the last step, three years earlier. against LeBron James’ Lakers, in Orlando’s anti-Covid bubble.
Denver coach Michael Malone fumed after his players: “Let’s talk about effort. We had guys on the pitch feeling sorry for themselves because they weren’t getting their shots right. It’s not preseason, it’s not regular season. It’s the NBA Finals! This really puzzles me, it’s disappointing. »
If there is one player to spare on the Nuggets side, it’s Nikola Jokic. At the top of his game, also overpowering on the inside (16/28 on shots, 11 rebounds), he responded, alone, to the bursts of attack from the Heat, who quickly led 21-10.
The Serbian giant was then overwhelming in the third quarter, scoring 18 points including this “coast-to-coast”, this mad dash of his racket to the opposing circle, inheriting “MVP! MVP! MVP! yelled from the stands.
Jokic is already twice (2021 and 2022), in the regular season. But of a final, not yet, and if he is on track to be, after his triple-double in the first game, a first coronation for the Nuggets can only be based on his scoring alone.
As delicious as they were sometimes, like this ball deflected with one hand for Aaron Gordon’s back dunk (12 pts), his passes were however rarer, four in number. However, when it makes less than six, Denver has a record of three wins and eight losses this season. “There were a lot of miscommunications and misunderstandings,” he lamented.
On the Miami side, it was a question of remaining faithful to its principles of play and maintaining confidence. So, as their coach Erik Spoelstra had instructed them the day before – “Take the shots and catch fire! “-, the Floridians managed to find the target behind the arc by succeeding 17 of their 35 attempts, even where they had sinned three evenings earlier (33%).
Another notable change, the free throws: 18 scored out of 20 obtained, much more than 2/2 of the first game. Much more aggressive, therefore, the Heat nevertheless suffered a big storm at the start of the second quarter, when the Nuggets inflicted a 21-6 on them, to count up to 15 units ahead. But, without panicking, the Floridians rounded their backs and were able to come back up to par, then carried by Bam Adebayo, a tireless warrior (21 pts, 9 rebounds).
A buzzer shot missed by the Nuggets
And to respond, blow for blow, as in a boxing fight, to the knockout sought by Jokic, Miami was extremely efficient in the last quarter, winning 36-25, with Duncan Robinson author of his 10 points at 100% to start it, and Jimmy Butler to complete this teamwork by scoring 8 of his 21 points (9 assists).
Miami still trembled until the end, when Jamal Murray, long under the defensive extinguisher, revolted in the money-time, chaining 10 of his 18 points (10 assists). But his shot at the buzzer failed to snatch the extension.
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