In a perfect world, both these teams would win championships this year.
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets after topping the rollercoaster Western Conference all season, beating the Timberwolves, eliminating KD and Booker’s Suns so bad they fired their coach, and sweeping LeBron’s Lakers to the point of considering retirement. Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat to the promised land despite losing their first Play-in Game. They then eliminated The Greek Freak and the Bucks, made the Knicks reconsider their roster, and closed out the East by raising blood pressure and stress levels with that seven-game series with Boston.
It would be bliss. Two teams that worked their way to where they are. One barely blemished, the other battle-tested. Both have elite duos starring their hardworking squads. Both teams have great basketball minds as coaches. Both teams are very very deserving. We would all walk into the sunset and live happily ever after.
Unfortunately, that’s not how the NBA works. But fortunately, we get to see these teams slug it out for all the marbles.
And two games into the series, so far, it has not disappointed.
Game 1: Nuggets 104-93 Heat
Call it the altitude or blame it on the fatigue– the Heat simply weren’t ready for Game 1. Combine that with Jokic being the walking triple-double that he is, and it just spells trouble. The (almost) seven-foot stat machine seemingly appeared like the final boss in a video game, dropping 27 points, ten rebounds, and 14 assists on the Heat and telling them to “try again.”
Bam Adebayo and Gabe Vincent led the way for Miami in a losing effort with 26 and 19 points, respectively. Adebayo immediately noticed that although Jokic is a cheat code on offense, he is not as big of a threat on the opposite end. Even though Miami shot 40.6% from the field as a team, they looked great when they had their moments. Although they had never lost a Game 1 in this playoff run until then, it woke them up to what they are dealing with here.
On the other hand, The Joker’s partner-in-crime, Jamal Murray, had 26 points and ten assists, leaving his signature on Denver’s first NBA Finals appearance as a franchise.
Game 2: Heat 111-108 Denver
“Try again,” they did. After adjusting on the court and to the thin air, the Heat’s grit got them to level the playing field.
Game 2 was a back-and-forth occasion, unlike the one-sided beating that was Game 1. Miami had a narrow lead to end the first quarter (26-23) before both sides started trading blows for the remainder of the game. The Heat held Jokic down to two points in the second quarter. But after the two-time MVP scored 18 in the third, some thought that the Heat’s chances were evaporating– that was not the case.
If the Heat wins this series, they better make the rings extra special for the undrafted role players who became heroes throughout these playoffs. Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, and Duncan Robinson have all been key pieces around Adebayo and Butler. They become even bigger threats when the two stars mellow down, knowing when to flip the switch to change the game.
While Butler and Adebayo had solid shifts, both scoring 21 points and combining for 13 rebounds and 13 assists, it was Vincent and Robinson’s evening. Vincent led Miami in scoring with 23 shooting 66.7% from the field and 4/6 from three. Robinson, who at one point this season faded out of the Heat rotation, inspired their final push in Game 2 by outscoring the Nuggets 10-2 at the beginning of the fourth.
Miami’s first win in Denver since November 30, 2016, could not have come at a better time as…
The series heads to Miami
We have an NBA Finals classic unfolding in front of us. The first two games proved that Denver’s dominance and Miami’s scrappy nature can bet the better of the other. It is a coin toss. They have turned it into a best-of-five series as it goes from snowy mountains to sandy beaches.
It is a high-paced, high-IQ game of chess with Michael Malone and Erik Spoelstra running the boards. A clash of styles that makes for an entertaining tug-of-war. Denver’s size and well-roundedness pinned against Miami’s pace and underdog mentality. It is living up to the expectations so far, and there’s a lot of basketball left to play. We have not even seen the best from Jokic and Butler yet.
