DENVER (AP) — The Miami Heat’s got the look. They couldn’t defeat them.
It was the kind of memorable shooting night for the Heat in their 104-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets during Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
The stat lines were hard to fathom: Max Stross, 0-for-10. Duncan Robinson, 1-of-6. Even Caleb Martin, who had a stellar showing in the Eastern Conference Finals, wasn’t immune. He finished 1 of 7.
This was far from the shooting clinic in Heat. They ran a series of snaps in the fourth quarter to show what they can do and make the numbers a little nicer (40.6% from the floor) than they could have been. Nor did they reach the free-throw line—only shooting two, with Haywood Highsmith making both of them.
In this losing league, many of the Heat have struggled to get the bucket through three quarters. Perhaps the fatigue was a bit after a grueling seven-game series against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Finals. Perhaps the influences of playing at a height in the Mile High City. But it wasn’t the perimeter performance the Heat expected.
Sometimes, the shots don’t fall through. The Heat advanced to the Finals due to an ineffective Boston outsider in Game 7, when the Celtics were 9 of 42.
On Thursday in Denver, The Heat got a little taste of what felt like.
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