MIAMI (AP) – Take this series back to 305.
That’s what Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra vehemently reiterated after losing to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night left them facing elimination once again.
The question now is whether enough heat has been left in the tank to overcome it.
The team that started its improbable run from the championship to the NBA Finals kept finding ways to win. No matter the opponent, no matter the adversity, finding a way when their backs are against the wall has been part of the Heat’s identity in these playoffs.
But Miami seems to have met a very good, very deep opponent in Denver. The eighth-seeded Heat fell into a hole 3-1 after them 108-95 losing in Game 4 With the series returning to Denver.
“I said to the guys, ‘Feel what you want to feel tonight. That’s good. You probably won’t sleep any length of time tonight,’” Spoelstra said. “We have an incredibly competitive group. We did everything the hard way, and this is the way it needs to be done now, again. And all we’re going to focus on is bringing that thing back to the 305. Bringing that thing back to Miami, and things can change very quickly.”
Minutes away from missing the playoffs entirely in game play, and being forced to win Game 7 in Boston to avoid the biggest postseason collapse in NBA history, the Heat will now have to become the second team to come back from 3-1 from behind. in the NBA Finals. The first, of course, was in 2016, when the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Golden State Warriors to win it all.
Bam Adebayo said several Heat players were “(suspended)” in the locker room on Friday. Jimmy Butler added that he would demand an “unquestionable” mentality from his colleagues as they tried to extend the series.
“We’re going to go into Monday and do what we’ve said we’ve been doing all this time: Win,” Butler said. “We have to. We have no other choice. Otherwise, we would have done all this for no reason.”
The Heat couldn’t capitalize on quiet nights from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, by their standards. Far from leading 2-0 into the first minute of the game, Miami trailed the entire contest, including as many as 13 in the third quarter for what became the team’s fourth straight home loss.
Butler led the Heat with 25 points. Adebayo scored 20 points. The Heat also got good minutes from Kevin Love, who finished with 12 points, including a pair of straight three-pointers in the third that kept the game close.
But Denver managed to neutralize many of the outside threats in Miami. Gabe Vincent, Max Stross, Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson combined only collected 25 points. And The Heat only made eight out of 25 attempts from the deep – the fewest in the series.
“They help a little bit with the drive it seems, scramble,” said Robinson, who had 12 points and two 3-pointers. “Give them some credit. For us, it will be more about detailing and dealing well with the attack, which we can do.”
The Heat captured the home court advantage in the series by rallying from the under-15s to beat the Nuggets at home in Game 2, though Denver was a heavy favorite. Then the Nuggets took it back with a 109-94 win in Game 3.
Miami fought back again and again during its career, rising from the bottom 15 to defeat the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of the opening round of the playoffs, then from the bottom 16 to win Game 5. deficit, then a 12-point gap to defeat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, which they won after being forced to go into Game 7 after leading 3-0.
Additional games in that series may have left the Heat worn out for the Finals. They didn’t look like the same team from those previous rounds as this series went to Miami, and they’re going back to Colorado looking to show they’re not done yet.
“Our whole season has not been easy,” said Adebayo. “We will not surrender”.
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