Miami Squeeks Out Game Two Victory
The Miami Heat led by as much as 11 points in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 15 in the second quarter. In the end, not even a big offensive game from Nikola Jokic could deny the Heat from stealing away home-court advantage from the Denver Nuggets.
The eighth-seeded Heat used a huge fourth-quarter run and a concentrated defensive effort against Jamal Murray in the final possession to come away with a 111-108 road victory in Game Two of the 2023 NBA Finals. The Miami victory tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1 with Games Three and Four heading back to South Beach.
A Balanced Attack
Gabe Vincent led the way for Miami with 23 points. Jimmy Butler added 21 points, nine assists, and four rebounds, while Bam Adebayo continued his stellar play with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Max Strus chipped in 14 points, while Duncan Robinson added ten points off the bench including some massive shots down the stretch.
After misfiring in the series opener, the Heat found their groove from the three-point line, shooting 16 for 35 from downtown. Answering Butler’s calls for more aggressiveness after taking just two free throws in Game One, the Heat shot 18 for 20 from the free throw line.
More importantly, the Heat’s defense limited the offense of the Nuggets’ other stars.
A One-Man Show for Denver
After debuting with a triple-double, Nikola Jokic set a Finals career-high of 41 points with 11 rebounds, four assists, and five turnovers. The rest of the team largely struggled offensively. Interestingly, the Nuggets are 0-3 in the 2023 playoffs in games where Nikola Jokic scores 40 points or more, leading many to wonder who will step up to ease the offensive load from the Nuggets big man.
Jamal Murray, who made two big three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, added 18 points, ten assists, and one steal in 39 minutes. Aaron Gordon had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Bruce Brown added 11 points off the bench. Michael Porter Jr. was limited to just five points in 26 minutes. MPJ’s ineffectiveness on both ends of the floor drew the ire of coach Malone throughout the evening, and will be something that will need to be rectified in a hurry for the Nuggets to right the ship.
Denver outscored the Heat 34-25 in the second quarter to build a 15-point lead but cooled down once the second half started- particularly in the fourth quarter. Denver’s defense also allowed the Heat to score 36 points across the final 12 minutes. A fact that wasn’t lost on the Nuggets head coach in his post game comments.
“Let’s talk about effort. I mean, this is the NBA Finals and we’re talking about effort. That’s a huge concern of mine,” Malone said.”And tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami…To start the third quarter, they scored 11 points in two minutes and 10 seconds.”
Despite the loss, the Nuggets still had some positives, shooting 52% from the field. Denver also outscored Miami in the shaded area (48-34) and held an 18-5 advantage in fastbreak points. Unfortunately at the end of the day, the Heat players just produced more during crunch time than the Nuggets did.
Denver Needs More from Murray
While Jamal Murray almost forced an overtime period in Game Two, his 18-point performance simply won’t cut it, especially with Miami’s defense making Nikola Jokic more of a scorer rather than a passer. With the defense more focused on the two-time MVP, it’s imperative Murray and company show up offensively in Game Three.
Murray is averaging 27.6 points, 6.4 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 39.2% three-point shooting in the 2023 playoffs, but needs to make Miami play honest defense rather than dictating the play on their end of the court. Michael Porter Jr. is also in desperate need of rediscovering his shooting touch that made him so efficient in the Western Conference Finals.
While the series still has a long way to go, momentum has unequivocally shifted in Miami’s favour. With Game 3 slated for Wednesday evening, the Nuggets will need to make adjustments of their own in order to swing the pendulum back in their direction.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.