Denver Nuggets’ Dynamism Way Too Prowess for Miami to Match in NBA Finals
NBA Final 1 was a game to watch, it is analysed in an incisive depth and how Nuggets prevailed over Heats. Let us read more ….
Denver's Dynamism Way Too Prowess for Miami to Match in NBA Finals - the image is screen grab.
In the first game of the NBA Finals, Nikola Jokic didn’t shoot a single shot until the final 3.3 seconds of the first quarter, when his Denver Nuggets were up by nine points and leading the points-in-the-paint battle, 20-6.
With a size advantage that is unlikely to change over the course of what appears to be a short series, the Nuggets built a 24-point lead and cruised to a 104-93 victory over the Heat.
The significance of Denver’s height was made plain by Aaron Gordon right off the bat, but we shall get to Jokic and the 27-10-14 triple-double he registered with the ease of a horse-drawn MVP acceptance speech.
In the first quarter alone, the 6-foot-8, 235-pound two-time slam dunk contest runner-up scored 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting at the rim while intimidating Gabe Vincent and any other smaller defender Miami tried to conceal on him.
The Denver Nuggets are just playing basketball. Gordon told the press, “We find a mismatch, exploit it, and keep going to it.” To paraphrase, “I was just taking what the defense was giving me and attacking what I felt was a mismatch.”
Aaron Gordon
Of Miami’s top seven players, Bam Adebayo is the only one who stands taller than 6-7 feet, and even he has to give up at least two inches and 30 pounds to Jokic.
Officially, the Serbian center is registered as 6-11 feet tall, which is one inch shorter than the Nuggets projected him to be in 2019 and two inches shorter than Gordon mentioned during the game. To prove that official heights are fantasy, just put the 6-11 Zeller next to Jokic.
Adebayo is forced to defend Jokic’s 3-point shot because the Heat have no one else to do so, allowing him to drag Adebayo away from the basket and average a playoff-best 10.5 assists per game. That left the hoop wide open for two first-quarter dunks by 6-4 point guard Jamal Murray, which Vincent, at 5-11, could only watch from behind.
“They are a physical group,” Vincent, one of Miami’s few offensive highlights, remarked. We had to get used to their physicality quickly, and I had to do that especially. Early on, they got a couple of layups on me, so we had to make some changes. A protracted series, first to four wins, means that mistakes will be made and lessons learned.
Michael Porter Jr., a 6-10 wing, was up next. In the early stages of the second quarter, he blasted a three over Jimmy Butler‘s extended arms and another over Kyle Lowry‘s 6-foot frame to give Denver an 11-point advantage. In the pauses, he shook off Lowry for dunks that Adebayo couldn’t stop.
After Murray and Porter scored a combined 40 points, Murray remarked of Porter, “He’s 6-10, he’s doing more than just knocking down shots, and that’s dangerous.” To paraphrase, “When he’s doing that, he’s helping us a lot just by being on the wing.”
Even grizzled veteran Jeff Green didn’t think twice about putting Adebayo on the bench for a second-half revival.
The much-heralded Jokic-Murray two-man game had just begun, and it was already a clinic. Jokic would body the generously stated 6-7 journeyman into the basket, or they’d switch onto Haywood Highsmith and find Murray sprinting to his spot on the arc, again trapping Adebayo between the hoop and the perimeter.
Denver extended their advantage to 59-42 at halftime thanks to 11 points from Jokic and Murray (the other two came off a Gordon post-up in the paint) in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
For his part, Adebayo attempted 16 of his 25 attempts from 7-15 feet after Denver dared him to shoot over Jokic.
Even after Miami’s thrilling conference finals triumph over the Boston Celtics boosted Butler’s self-assurance, he was still afraid to attack Jokic, who was never known for his rim protection, because the length of Gordon and Porter frequently led him into a maze of towering limbs.
“You have to credit them with their size and really protecting the paint and bringing a third defender,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after his team’s loss.
Things need to be done with far greater focus, speed, and attention to detail. Because we are an offensive club, we need to find other methods to score if we aren’t getting easy looks at the basket or free throws.
At the end of the game, the Nuggets blocked four shots while the Heat attempted only two free throws, the fewest in a single game of the Finals.
Highsmith, who shot both of Miami’s free throws, called the disparity in attempts at the line “interesting,” but he found more puzzling the relatively mild physicality displayed by the Heat against a much taller and longer opponent.
Adebayo emphasized, “We can’t let them control the game.” Instead of driving to the basket, we took and missed many jump shots. We’ll take a break to watch a movie and then return to the sketchpad.
Butler said, “Maybe I have to be a little bit more aggressive,” after scoring his playoff-low 13 points. I need to apply some pressure on the basket. It was entirely my own fault that I didn’t make any free throws.
Jimmy Butler
On Sunday, Butler and Adebayo will have more opportunities to score. That’s a guarantee. The fact that Jokic barely broke a sweat in the first game of the series should have the Heat on edge, though.
He attempted five shots in the opening three quarters, with the Nuggets holding a 21 point lead. Even after Miami’s 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter narrowed the lead to 10, Denver remained calm and consistently found Jokic in the post for a response.
He drew everyone inside the safe zone and located Green’s secret exit. Adebayo sagged and threw a floater 8 feet in the air.
Jokic backed Adebayo into his natural defensive position and floated two turnaround passes over him as Miami’s defense tightened up.
Jokic seemed like he could go on like that all night; he didn’t, but he still picked up four personal fouls against Adebayo. If the Heat’s lone dependable big man is ever called for a foul, may Allah (God) help them.
“He’s a heavy guy,” Murray remarked of Jokic. He will always be a physical presence on the court, resulting in rebounds and points. He’s still a heavy weight in the paint even when he’s not making shots or putting up points.
The Heat had trouble playing at a higher altitude, but it wasn’t because of the air quality in Denver.
