DENVER – The Miami Heat have already defeated the top seed in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, and they’re on board to do it again.
The eighth-seeded Heat evened out the NBA Finals on Sunday by defeating the Denver Nuggets in Game Two, 111-108. Help came from all angles to beat the Nuggets on a night when their star player Nikola Jokic lost 41 points.
Gabe Vincent—a flop out of college, a former G Leaguer and a star when playing for the Nigerian national team—led the Heat with 23 points. Jimmy Butler took most of the game to start, but scored eight of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo scored 21 points, including two free throws that raised the heat by five with 48 seconds left, and Duncan Robinson hit all 10 of his points in the final frame. It was barely enough. Jamaal Murray took a good look at Step 3 before the final buzzer, which shot off the rim. The Nuggets, who lead as many as 15 in the game, were leading 83-75 when the fourth quarter began.
Game Three is at 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday in Miami. This marked the first time Denver, the top seed in the West, had entered a tied game three. The Nuggets have won the first two games of every series up to this point. The Heat, who opened the playoffs by defeating No. 1 Milwaukee in five games, is the second No. 8 seed ever to win a Finals game, and the first to tie a series. The 1999 Knicks lost 2-0 when they beat the Spurs in Game 3 of those Finals.
Jokić, after his triple-double from Game 1, was 16-of-28 from the field and added 11 rebounds, but was limited to just four assists. To the untrained eye, it might look like the Heat tried to turn him into a leading scorer. Murray finished with 18 points and 10 assists on 7-of-15 shooting, and Aaron Gordon added 12 points for the Nuggets. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra changed his lineup in Game 2, returning Kevin Love as his starting force over Caleb Martin. This move worked.
Love, who has several inches on Martin, gave the Heat a much better chance against the Nuggets’ talent, including Gordon. Love, who played in his fourth NBA Finals and first since 2018 in Cleveland, added a team-high six points and ten rebounds. Max Stross threw away his 0-for-10 performance of Game 1 to score 14 for Miami, with four 3 seconds into the first quarter.
Adebayo was the Heat’s MVP through two games. He scored 26 points on 25 shots in Game 1, and in Game 2 he added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Butler was 7 of 19 from the field and is 13 of 33 shooting over two games. He led the Heat with nine assists and played the role of facilitator. He missed 3 times with 14.6 seconds left, giving the Nuggets one last chance to tie the game.
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(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)