DENVER (AP) – Duncan Robinson ducked and then flashed his mean face after a pass.
Doesn’t mean disrespect. The Miami Heat forward was having a little fun in the fourth quarter.
Because in the opening three, Robinson didn’t take a single shot. Turns out he was simply saving his best when his team needed it most.
Over the course of about two minutes in the final quarter, Robinson scored all 10 of his points to spark a mass rush that sent the Heat off. With a win of 111-108 Over the Denver Nuggets Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Robinson’s surge helped turn an 83-75 deficit into an 88-85 lead that Miami would not relinquish tying the series at one game.
“I surprised myself with the fact that I pulled that off,” Robinson said of the spur-of-the-moment pose. “Mostly just try to play with a certain level of joy. I feel like I give my best when I’m having fun.”
Robinson’s streak through three quarters took nearly 7 minutes of play and a complete set of zeros – zero shots, zero rebounds, zero assists. He had one mistake.
But in the fourth, he was 4 of 5, including two 3-pointers, to help the Heat do something no other team has done this postseason — beat the Nuggets at home.
“He could be one of those guys who just opened the game,” said Heat forward Kevin Love, who started game two, scoring six points and grabbing 10 rebounds, after not playing a minute in game one. “We saw that from him during these qualifiers. His consistency and confidence were there.”
Robinson had a forgettable Game 1 when he went 1-for-6 from the ground. He kept his cool and didn’t read too much into a poor shooting performance.
He had a streak against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, too. In Game 3 of that series, he had 22, then two in Game 4 and 18 in Game 5.
This was his season in a nutshell. He has been on and off rotation all season.
“It does a lot of things that people don’t know about,” Love explained. “They see him as a shooter, but he cuts the hoop, puts the ball down, hits a pass to Bam (Adebayo) and uses his size to get to the edge of those cuts and put the ball down.
“It’s so nice to see you. We needed all of those contributions tonight.”
Max Strouss broke away early, with four three-pointers in the first quarter. This is after going 0 for 10 in Game 1.
Robinson took it from there on the fourth.
“I just try to play with a certain level of aggression on offense, just to at least be there and feel my presence,” said Robinson. “Obviously it helps when the ball goes in, which you can’t always control. It’s just about taking the right, aggressive shots only.”
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