Global Courant
A waterfall of triples made it possible. Miami Heat gave the blow and surviving an agonizing final, they beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 this Sunday at home to tie the NBA Finals in one.
In a furious fight in which both teams constantly exchanged sets, the Heat rocked the fourth quarter (25-36 on 69% shooting from the field) and survived a 3-pointer by Jamal Murray that would have forced overtime.
Gabe Vincent (23 points with a great 8 of 12 shooting) was the top scorer for a very serious and intense Heat, who shone on the triple (17 of 35) and in which Bam Adebayo contributed 21 points (8 of 14). and 9 rebounds and Jimmy Butler added 21 points (7 of 19) and 9 assists.
Instead, the Nuggets missed this second duel in Denver despite a new performance by Nikola Jokic with 41 points (16 of 28 shooting) and 11 rebounds and despite starting the fourth quarter with an 8-point lead.
Murray got 18 points and 10 assists in a Nuggets who lost their first game in their stadium in these playoffs and suffered the poor night of Michael Porter Jr and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (11 points between the two)
Jamal Murray who had a bad first quarter against Strus. Photo: EFE
With Kevin Love new to the lineup, the Heat entered the game with a lot of momentum.
As an appetizer, Max Strus, who crashed on Thursday with a 0 of 9 from the line of three, hit his first attempt from the perimeter and added his second triple -this one completely alone- in less than three minutes, forcing Mike Malone to call an early timeout (2-10 with 9.13 on the clock).
Unlike the focused and incisive Heat, the Nuggets started off shaky, with a defense riddled with holes and numerous rushing errors and turnovers.
The Heat came to be 11 points up in a first quarter in which Strus excelled with a stupendous 4 of 7 in triples.
However, Denver got back on track thanks to a very willful Jokic (11 points in the first quarter) and closed the period with better feelings after going 8-2 in the last three minutes (23-26).
Along with Braun, other local reserves such as Bruce Brown and Jeff Green stormed the field with rage and gave the Nuggets their first lead (33-29 with 10:12 to rest). The other side was Murray who didn’t even score in the first quarter.
Butler and Jokic, one of the duels of the night. Photo: USA TODAY Sports
By then, the duel had completely changed its dynamics compared to the beginning, so much so that the Nuggets started playing in bulldozer mode -especially with a fantastic streak of triples and biting in each defense with a fabulous contribution from their second unit- while the Heat they were a sea of doubts.
With Jokic and Butler resting on the bench, the one who emerged in that stretch was Murray with 8 points in four minutes including a huge dunk on the fast break with additional and after steal (44-32 with 7.49 for the break).
The locals reached +15 (50-35) in an overwhelming stretch in which, in ten minutes between the first and second quarters, they swept Miami with a 40-14 run.
However, the Heat plugged some of their cracks just before intermission and went to the locker room with a still manageable margin despite the feeling of local dominance (57-51).
The Nuggets’ bench shone with 20 points at halftime (to only 5 from the Heat’s secondaries) and Denver scored 16 points on the fast break (to only 3 from Miami).
The endless and crazy barter of partials continued in the restart.
This time they hit the Heat, who, with two triples from Vincent, tied the game when only three minutes had been played (64-64).
From there, the third quarter got stuck in a thicker rhythm, with the two teams upset with the referees and with the attacks of both teams out of tune.
Only one name was saved from burning: a huge Jokic who went against everything and everyone in the paint, who came away with 18 points in that period and who despaired of a Cody Zeller totally overwhelmed by the brilliant antics of the Serbian.
Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, celebrating the comeback. Photo: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
With no solution for Jokic, the Heat faced the last quarter eight points down (83-75) and with Butler practically missing in front of the basket.
But then Robinson appeared, who hadn’t given any signs of life either, to give the umpteenth blow to the game.
With 10 points (4 of 4 shooting) from a spectacular Robinson and a three-pointer from a rock-solid Vincent, the Heat regained control of the game with a 2-13 run in just over two minutes (85-88). .
The Nuggets were going through a very difficult time and couldn’t figure out a zone defense from the Heat that completely choked them.
Thus, Miami completed a great run of 10-26 to get +8 and only five minutes left to play (93-101). Murray reappeared with two three-pointers in the final minutes and placed Denver just three points with a minute to go.
Adebayo made two pivotal free throws, Jokic responded with a basket and Butler missed with 14.6 seconds left, setting up the way for Murray to become the Nuggets’ hero but his 3-pointer missed and the Heat clinched the win.
