How Miami Heat battled to take Game 2 of the NBA Finals against Denver Nuggets

Duncan Robinson caught fire in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, tipping the Miami Heat over the line against Denver Nuggets and evening the series out 1-1 on the road. Robinson scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter but it was also about the evolution of his game that caught Denver out.
A couple of years ago, Miami Heat rewarded Robinson with a $90 million contract. There are many facets to the game at NBA level, but Robinson was a master-of-one type of player – shooting the ball. Ask him to be a playmaker, or cut inside and finish at the rim and the 6’7 small forward would shrink in size. Last year, Miami took him off their rotation because most teams at this level figure out how to defend players with only one trick in the book.
This year in the playoffs, Robinson has shown that he isn’t just a shooter. In the fourth quarter against Denver, he brought the Heat back into contention with two three-pointers. But it was the other four points that he scored, slashing towards the rim and finishing despite bigger Denver presence in the paint, that essentially allowed Miami to gain the lead early in the fourth quarter – a lead they never relinquished.

🏆 GAME 2 FINAL SCORE 🏆
The @MiamiHEAT win Game 2 to even the series at 1-1!
Gabe Vincent: 23 PTS, 8-12 FG, 4-6 3PMJimmy Butler: 21 PTS, 9 ASTBam Adebayo: 21 PTS, 9 REB, 2 BLKNikola Jokic: 41 PTS, 11 REB
Game 3: Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET on ABC pic.twitter.com/ZJRz1c7Syo
— NBA (@NBA) June 5, 2023
Jokic, the scorer
Lost in the Miami win was the optics of Denver centre Nikola Jokic’s 41-point performance. The big man took advantage of his superior height over a Miami team that’s built small, and scored on 16 of his 28 shot attempts, while also making seven of his eight free throws. But it was his four asss that caught the eye.
Jokic is unique in the sense that he is a seven-foot centre who can pass the ball, finish at the rim, and shoot enough threes to keep defenders honest. The 2022 NBA regular season MVP is almost quarterback-like in his ability to dictate the game. Miami brought down Jokic’s asss in Game 2 – in fact the Serbian had more turnovers (5) than asss. In the regular season, Denver won three games but lost seven when Jokic had less than six asss.

Nikola Jokic (41 PTS, 11 REB) with a remarkable Game 2!
Denver will look to bounce back in Game 3 and secure a 2-1 series lead 🍿
DEN/MIA Game 3:Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET on ABC pic.twitter.com/z2LryrxZe6
— NBA (@NBA) June 5, 2023
How did Miami cut off Jokic’s asss? making a defensive adjustment and bringing in Kevin Love into the starting lineup. The change allowed Jimmy Butler, one of Miami’s best defenders, to mark Jamal Murray, one of Jokic’s best ass recipients. choking Murray out of the game, Heat restricted Jokic into purely scoring and gave up 41 points, but negated his overall impact on the game.
Miami offence clicks
Miami shot a staggering 48.6 percent from the three-point range. That barrage came thanks to a shooting clinic from Max Struss in the first quarter when the guard kept on downing three-pointer after three-pointer. At the end of the game, Struss went 4 out of 10 from three-point range, while his teammate Gabe Vincent shot 4 out of 6 from three as well. Miami’s shooters came prepared in Game 2 after a poor Game 1 where the team shot a combined 33.3 percent from deep. In Game 1, both Caleb Martin and Struss had combined for 1-17 from the field – a poor shooting effort that allowed Denver to run away with that contest.

Miami were also far more successful in forcing fouls out of Denver, going to the line 20 times in Game 2, a far cry from the two attempts they managed from free throws. “We faced a lot of adversity during the season,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game. “We handled it the right way where you are not making excuses about it, the injuries, the changing line-ups. Because of all that adversity and the 57 close games that happened, due to a lot of that, it hardened us. It steeled us, and we developed some grit, which is what we all want.”