This could be a very short series if the games continue like this. The Denver Nuggets continue destroying every opponent in front of them as they tore apart the Miami Heat 104-93 in Game 1, cementing a 1-0 lead for them in the NBA Finals.
We might be heading for a sweep if Miami isn’t careful.
The Denver Nuggets have taken the first steps towards being crowned NBA champions as they dismantled the Miami Heat 104-93 in Game 1 to take a 1-0 series lead, and also taking all the momentum and confidence away form Miami into Game 2. And, even though the final score was relatively close, Miami never stood a chance in this game.
You’d think this would have been the one game in the series the Heat could theoretically have won comfortably given the fact they were coming off a grueling, emotional, and terrific 7-game series victory over the Celtics just a few days ago, while the Denver Nuggets, who had swept aside the LA Lakers over a fortnight ago, would be rusty, anxious, and generally unready for the fight Miami would come out with. Right?
Well, if you did think that, you’d be incredibly wrong as the Denver Nuggets ragdolled a much smaller Miami side from the get-go.
It really wasn’t much of a contest for the opening three quarters as guys like Aaron Gordon (16 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 7/10 FG shooting), Michael Porter Jr. (14 PTS, 13 REB, 1 AST), and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (7 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST) were simply outmuscling the Heat to the basket and outjumping them to rebounds whenever Jamal Murray (26 PTS, 4 REB, 10 AST, 11/22 FG shooting) fired off a shot or Nikola Jokic (27 PTS, 10 REB, 14 AST, 8/12 FG shooting) delivered the ball on a dime to them.
The Heat’s lineup simply was too small against a Nuggets side that was posting 18, 19, 20, and even a 24-point lead over Miami at times, which was most evident in the final scores of each quarter as Denver outscored Miami 29-20 in Q1, 30-22 in Q2, and 25-21 in Q3.
Along with outrebounding the Heat 45-43, scoring 46 points in the paint to Miami’s 38, and only giving up an NBA playoff record 2 free throws (yeah, the Heat just couldn’t get to the line against these guys), the Denver Nuggets came out of the gate swinging and took the Heat down with a haymaker in the opening minute of the 1st round.
And Miami never recovered as the largest lead the Heat held in the game was just 1 point…even though they actually had less turnovers (Heat: 8, Nuggets: 10), far more possessions (Heat: 96 FG attempts; Nuggets: 78 FG attempts), more stelas (Heat: 5; Nuggets: 4), and more 3-pointers (Heat: 13 made 3’s; Nuggets: 8 made 3’s).
Yet, simply put, neither Jimmy Butler (13 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) nor Bam Adebayo (26 PTS, 13 REB, 5 AST) could stop Nikola Jokic from dictating the game in whatever manner pleased him.
Seriously, Jimmy Butler was a ghost on the court when Jokic was guarding him (1-9 FG shooting on Jokic) and Bam, despite having a great game by his standards, saw the Joker go for his 9th playoff triple-double (further adding to his single postseason record) and torched the Miami defense with his passing alone as his primary defender.
Against the Celtics, the Heat could put Bam or Butler on Robert Williams, Al Horford, or Jayson Tatum, the frontcourt for the C’s, as that team had a much less physical, dynamic, and explosive offensive abilities to negate their height advantage, but Jokic’s own talents and skillset dwarfs all three of those players alone.
So, when you also add in Jamal Murray’s ruthless midrange accuracy, Michael Porter Jr., Jeff Green (4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST), and Aaron Gordon’s rim presence, and Bruce Brown (10 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL) and Caldwell-Pope’s lethality from the perimeter, the defensive responsibilities for the Heat just become too complicated as every player on the Nuggets roster has the potential to destroy you so long as Jokic is feeding them the ball.
“Okay, just stop Jokic then,” some hopeful Miami fan is thinking right now. And, the problem with that line of reasoning is the fact that the Heat players are simply TOO SMALL or TOO OLD to contend with the Joker.
Kevin Love (DNF) can’t play a full game against the Joker as he used to do during his days with Cleveland, Adebayo is too small (he’s only 6′ 9″) to be matched up against the Joker all night long, Jimmy Butler is also way too small for the Joker and his much-needed offensive capabilities will be useless if he’s just guarding Jokic, Cody Zeller (0 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST) is not athletic enough to even guard Jokic alone for a minute of the game, and there’s not a single other player in the starting rotation above 6’8″ (Duncan Robinson is 6’7″, but he can’t guard Jokic).
Simply put, this is a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad matchup for the Miami Heat.
I guess they could double team Jokic as a last resort, but he’s going to find the spare man that will hit the wide-open 3-point shot. And if that person doesn’t hit the shot, the Nuggets other forwards will converge on the basketball and outrebound the shorthanded, small Heat defenders to just set the play back up again. Like we saw last night.
Miami does have a chance to stretch this series out to 5 or 6 games (like in the 2020 Finals against Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and the Lakers…which they lost) if they play fantastic from the 3-point line (or Jokic has an off night), but I don’t seem them winning even one game against a primed, ready, and ruthless Joker.
I guess we’ll see in Game 2 if I’m right.
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