There were times during game 2 of the NBA Finals that it looked like the Miami Heat were dead, in the 1st half as the Nuggets turned a Miami 21-10 lead into a 50-35 lead of their own, a 40-14 run looked like it would kill the Heat. Again when the Nuggets took an eight point lead into the fourth quarter as Nikola Jokic was erupting, it looked like Denver would run away with the game and a 2-0 series lead. The issue is the Miami Heat are literal zombies, they simply never die. Duncan Robinson, by himself, went on an 8-2 Heat run to start the 4th quarter to bring Miami back within 2. Which gave Miami new life and even after Denver made a late push, the Heat were able to be the first team to win a road game in Denver this postseason.
We can talk about Miami’s zone being a difference in the 2 games but Denver’s offensive rating was actually better in game 2 than game 1, and they scored more points. The difference in the 2 games was Miami’s 3 point shooting. In game 1 the Heat shot 13/39 (33%), in game 2 Miami shot 17/35 (48.5%). While only making 4 more 3s, the Heat took 4 less and made 4 more in game 2 vs. game 1 and that’s the difference between the 2 games. Max Strus was 0/10 in game 1, in game 2 he was 4/10 with 14 points and Duncan Robinson, 1/6 in game 1, was 4/5 in game 2 with 10 points. Did Miami’s zone really hurt Denver’s in the 4th, yes it did, and did starting Kevin Love allow Jimmy Butler hound Jamal Murray because Love was guarding Aaron Gordon help, yes it did but the difference was Miami made shots in game 2. Actually, if you go back and watch game 1, you can see a lot of the issues that plagued Denver in game 2, missed rotations leading to wide open shots being the most prevalent, were there in game 1, just the Heat did not punish the Nuggets for it, in game 2 they did.
Miami’s shooting has been the key all season. In the regular season, the Heat were 17th in 3 pointers made per game (12.0 per game) and 27th in 3 point percentage (34.4%). In the playoffs, those numbers have skyrocketed to 5th in 3 pointers made per game (13.3 per game) and 1st in 3 point percentage (39.2%), actually Miami’s 39.2% from beyond the arch across the playoffs would have been good enough for 1st in the league in the regular season. We can talk about ‘Heat Culture’ all we want and how great Erik Spoelstra has been throughout these playoffs, and boy has Spo been excellent, but none of the Miami’s success would have happened if they did not get white hot from 3 (pun is intended because ‘White Hot’ has been Miami’s playoff mantra this year). At this point, the shooting has to be real too, this has been going on for 20 games now, which is more than a lucky hot streak. Miami’s 3 point shooting is real and if they are going to win the championship, that is how they are going to get it done.
While the 3 point shooting has been the key to Miami’s success, I want to give some love to ‘Heat Culture’ (no matter how much I hate it). Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra have done a great job in laying the foundation and continuing to find people who fit what they are trying to build. Player wise that starts with Jimmy Butler, who is the personification of ‘Heat Culture’. Butler, who came over via sign and trade in 2019, has taken the Heat now to 3 Eastern Conference Finals and 2 NBA Finals in 4 seasons since joining the team and has been the kind of culture setter that Riley and Spoelstra were looking for post-Dwyane Wade. Riley has done a great job at surrounding Butler and Bam Adebayo with players who fit as well. Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson were all undrafted and are all playing a key role as Miami makes their push for the title.
The Miami Heat refuse to die, being 7-6 in games they have trailed by 12+ points in these playoffs, while the rest of the NBA has just 6 wins total. The Heat continue to fight when they trail and that showed in game 2 of the NBA Finals as they won the game despite a 40-14 Nuggets run. ‘Heat Culture’ has shown to be real and it just keeps pumping out wins as the Heat continue to defy the odds and make their run at the championship.
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