Miami Heat did it again
Miami Heat did it again. Like against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, against the New York Knicks in the second round and against the Boston Celtics in the third round.
Resilience. That’s the word that defines this pack of hounds that give nothing for lost. Who fight for every ball like the last one. Who emerge from the hell of games to stand back to back to fight whatever adversity comes their way.
I haven’t heard the bell yet.
If the NBA had a ‘people’s team,’ it would be Erik Spoelstra’s Heat. Get up, dust yourself off and carry on. It sounds simple, but there’s nothing harder to sustain than that hive mind coming together to emerge from hell at every opportunity it touches. Because on Sunday night, in Game 2, the Heat came from 15 points down on the scoreboard and rallied to win the game.
What’s most impressive is that we all, absolutely all, thought something like that could happen. When did we ever see Jimmy Butler and company throw in the towel early? Never. The cold numbers say it was the seventh time Miami rallied from a double-digit deficit this postseason, the most for a team in a single playoff run in the last 25 years.
Welcome, then, to confirmation that a special team is among us.
Just as we said the Nuggets are not just Nikola Jokic, it is clear that the Heat are not just Butler. Far from it: unsung heroes appear and disappear with the speed of a snap of the fingers. Spoelstra has used the cards he was dealt with wisdom, discipline and effort. It’s not a matter of knowing or telling what to do but getting the players to translate strategy and tactics into fluid execution.
As the most obvious change, the Heat modified their approach to Jokic. Instead of doubling him on a recurring basis-something that allowed us to observe his genius, especially in passing the ball-they defended him without as much help so that he would win the points in one-on-ones. Sure, the Serbian finished with 41 points, but he had just four assists and Denver’s ecosystem suffered.
A stat from ESPN Stats & Information: the Nuggets are 0-3 when Jokic scores 40 or more points in the playoffs and 13-1 when he scores less than 40. Bringing Kevin Love back into the rotation, a savvy veteran who can defend very well, gave Miami air and solutions in the off-ball game. The team grew in size and that bothered everyone. Especially the Serbian crack.
On offense, the situation for the Heat is as simple as this: score from the outside to win. And for that, they need to be aggressive in attacking the key, breaking and unloading, passing the ball and converting open shots. They changed that execution for the better and went from 13-39 (33%) in Game 1 from behind the arc to 17-35 (49%) in Game 2. Mobility is everything: they were 15-25 on three-pointers from passing.
“This is the NBA Finals. We’re talking about effort and that has me very concerned,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said at a press conference. “Our defense has to be far superior. That’s two quarters now, Game 1 and Game 2. In that span our off-the-ball work was non-existent.”
This is Spoelstra’s sixth Finals under his leadership. Each game is a different story, but the Miami coach knows how to peek through the keyhole to find small advantages to even the score.
We repeat what we said on day one: the Nuggets are clear favorites in this series. The Heat, however, are ready to prove that another impossible can materialize.
Will we finally be in the presence of a sporting miracle that began two months ago in the play-in? Time for time.
Welcome, now, to the NBA Finals.
We have been waiting for it.
