The Heat tied for the NBA Finals and had to overcome a brutal 41-point effort from Nikola Jokic to do it. Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo 21 each, and the Heat defeated the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night. “Our guys are competitive,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They love that kind of moment.” Obviously. They were down as much as 15 points, down eight points in fourth place, and those numbers meant they were going to lose. Denver was 11-0 in This playoffs when he’s leading by double digits at any point in the game, and 37-1 this season overall when he’s leading by at least eight in the fourth. —AP via ESPN.com
The Heat rallied 11 early and led 26-23 at the end of the opening period. Then the Nuggets climbed 15 in the second The pre-heat closed out to within 57-51 at halftime. The Heat tied it 66-66 midway through the third quarter, but the Nuggets finished the period 6-0 to take an 83-75 lead going into the fourth. – Sun Sentinel
3-pointer to Vincent with 10:10 to play and then gave the Heat its first lead of the second half, at 86-85, as part of a 15-2 Heat run to open the fourth.. “They went out that fourth quarter with a huge sense of desperation, and we just didn’t match that,” said the Nuggets’ Malone. The Heat then moved to a 107-95 lead with 3:39 to play on Caleb Martin’s 3-pointer, as Denver cut the lead to 109-106 with 1:29 remaining on a basket by former University of Miami winger Bruce Brown. – Sun Sentinel
Just when you think Jimmy Butler is running on fumes, he’s calling enough to get his team up late. And Bam Adebayo was fantastic for the second match in a row. That helped make up for 41 points from Nikola Jokic. After scoring a playoff-low 14 points in Game 1, Butler was again more of a catcher than scorer through three quarters, missing all four of his shots in the third period to go into fourth with 13 points on 4-for-13 shooting. But after resting the first four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, Butler delivered three big baskets — a three-pointer, and a three-point game on a jump, error, and bounce game. Butler — who closed with 21 points and 9 assists — scored 41 percent and averaged 23 points in the past 10 games, compared to 32-for-55 percent in the first nine games. He shot 7-for-19 on 5-for-5 on free throws Sunday after not making it to the line in the first game.. And Butler leads the NBA — by far — in clutch points during these playoffs, and keeps coming in when needed. – Miami Herald
Now, while there will be a lot of discussion about the Miami shooting and its unsustainability, the Nuggets weren’t doing themselves any favors in Game 2. Denver’s defensive disposition was poor to start the game. If you’ve been watching this space after Game 1, you’ll remember that I complimented Miami’s offensive process even though the team only put up 93 points.. The Heat didn’t drastically change their offense Sunday, but they took advantage of all the open looks Denver lost. For those who had concerns about Nikola Jokic’s ability to hold out defensively in the playoffs, Game 2 gave that group some ammunition. Coverage of Joker’s drop continued to give off good looks. Playing his second consecutive 20-point game, Bam Adebayo routinely outsprinted the Nuggets on a short lap. While Jimmy Butler could not get ahead on his offense, he was repeatedly able to break down the Denver defense and find outside shooters. – SI.com