Yeah, this series is over. The Denver Nuggets just had a series-defining win as they completed the Miami sweep by winning Game 4 108-95 to push their series lead 3-1.
It’s really impressive the Heat have gotten this far, but the fairy tale story is just about over.
The Denver Nuggets have passed the third (and maybe the most difficult) hurdle of this Finals series as they capped off their second-straight win in Miami with a 108-95 drubbing of the Heat, leaving them just a sole win away from the franchise’s first ever NBA title. And, as the 3-1 series score suggests, the Nuggets are more than deserving of this lead.
I really should just copy and paste the Game 3 review, update it slightly, and pass it off as the Game 4 review as both games were super similar in how they turned out.
Once again, the Denver Nuggets punished Miami’s bad matchups through Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr.’s monster games, Nikola Jokic dominated the paint and scoring sheet despite his limited minutes due to foul trouble, Jamal Murray controlled the floor from the perimeter and punished the Heat for blown assignments, and Michael Malone was able to rally his Nuggets side after a lackluster start.
Like I said, there was a few minor changes in the script last night, such as the role players stepping up for Denver, Miami actually rebounding as they finished 37-34 over the Nuggets, and the Heat played far better in the paint with Denver only winning 48-46 in the category, but everything else was pretty much the same aside from one major aspect: Miami looked like a team that knew its chances of winning were over.
Whether it’s through the 15 turnovers (Nuggets only had 8), shooting just 44.9% (35-78) from the field and 32.0% (8-25) from beyond the arc (Nuggets shot 39-79 from FG and 14-28 from the 3-point line), or key players (Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent) just not performing, the Heat let the pressures of the NBA Finals get the best of them once the Nuggets started clawing their way back in the game.
Similarly in Game 1, the Heat actually got off to a good start as they won Q1 21-20 with guys like Kyle Lowry (13 PTS, 3 REB, 7 AST), Jimmy Butler (25 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST, 1 BLK) and Bam Adebayo (20 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) all getting involved in the scoring and giving Miami a 1-point lead…which was a point better than the Q1 score in Game 3.
For those opening 12 minutes, the Heat were able to neutralize the Nuggets best players and implement a zonal marking scheme that fooled Nikola Jokic (23 PTS, 12 REB, 4 AST, 3 STLs, 3 BLKs) and the Nuggets offense. But, also just like in Game 3, Nikola Jokic found the weaknesses in the Heat’s defense and ruthlessly exploited it.
Truthfully, this was probably the least effective offensive game I’ve seen out of either Jokic or Jamal Murray (15 PTS, 3 REB 12 AST, 1 STL) this series as the Heat players did a fantastic job in challenging Murray in the backcourt, and then ensuring 2-3 players were surrounding Jokic at all times.
However, given the Joker’s superhuman ability to see the court and read the game, he was able to pick out the mismatches left on Aaron Gordon (27 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL), Bruce Brown (21 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK), Michael Porter Jr. (11 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST), and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (7 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 3 STLs, 2 BLKs) to the destruction of the Heat’s hopes and dreams of a 4th NBA title.
Leaving guys like Max Strus (0 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST), Duncan Robinson (12 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL), Gabe Vincent (2 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST), and Lowry on the Nuggets towering forwards and guards is just criminal, and the primary reason why the Heat have lost this game and most likely the series. The Nuggets went on a ruthless 66-52 scoring streak in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and maintained a 22-22 4th quarter to seal the series.
Sure, as I said, Jimmy Butler has not been good enough despite averaging close to 25 PPG this series and Bam Adebayo has not been dominate enough in the paint, but the Heat’s small stature and inability to hit their shots consistently in the face of larger defenders has doomed them to this 3-1 deficit.
Miami’s best chance to actually win this game came with about 5 minutes left down 10 and Nikola Jokic on the bench from foul trouble, yet they just couldn’t stop the Nuggets from going down the other end of the court and scoring whenever they would score some points.
And that’s why this series is probably going to end with a Nuggets victory in Game 5.
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