Nuggets vs Heat Preview: Series Tied as We Head to South Beach

Joker & Co. Ready to Reclaim Home Court Advantage

Spoelstra Masterclass Brings Series to Life

The Miami Heat put on another fourth quarter clinic in Game 2 to hand the Denver Nuggets their first home loss of the playoffs and level the series. Let’s take a look at our Nuggets vs Heat Preview ahead of an intriguing Game 3 in Miami.

The Heat used a 36-25 fourth quarter to propel them to a three point win on the road as their role players found their rhythm once again from beyond the arc. Miami shot 49% from deep as five players finished in double-digits in a performance reminiscent of what we saw from them on their way to winning the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets got no such efficiency from their role players as Nikola Jokic was the only player to score more than 18 points. The two-time MVP finished with 41 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists on a night where his supporting cast when completely missing.

Despite their impressive win the Heat are still 2.5 point underdogs in Game 3. The NBA odds for the full game total is currently 215.0 points.

Nuggets vs Heat

Date & Time:
Location: Kaseya Center, Miami, FL
Streaming: ABC

Denver Needs to Push Pace

Sometimes your best defense is your offense and that was partially true for Miami as they were able to play with a set defense throughout the fourth quarter thanks to their insane offensive rating in the final period.

That said, Denver still needs to do a better job of pushing pace and not allowing Miami to get into their coveted 2-3 zone that has caused two of the NBA’s best offenses to fall flat.

Game 2 saw Denver finish with just 86 possessions – their lowest number of possessions in a game these playoffs. While their offense is more than capable of executing regardless of pace, its evident that pushing the tempo is very much what will tilt this series further in their favor as things progress.

Coach Mike Malone believes it simply comes down to effort, which shouldn’t even be questioned at this point of the NBA season.

“Let’s talk about effort,” said Malone after the game.

“I mean, this is the NBA Finals and we’re talking about effort. That’s a huge concern of mine… And that to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing.”

With Malone challenging his team to be more engaged we should expect them to be controlling the tempo in Game 3, which includes a renewed energy on defense where they’ve been defensively better all playoffs.

Time is now for Herro

NBA injuries are never a fun storyline, but this one seems to have a positive ending as the Heat’s second top-scorer makes his return to action in the NBA Finals.

Tyler Herro hasn’t played since breaking his hand in Game 2 of the first-round of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks. Herro’s return will likely come off the bench but the added scoring punch is a huge boost for a team that tries to keep pace with the best offense in the league.

While Miami’s success has largely been reliant on the outside shooting from their role players the fact that they can add another ISO scorer in their second unit will only help to open up the perimeter looks for the likes of Max Strus and Duncan Robinson.

His pick-and-roll action with Bam Adebayo will also be another extra wrinkle of coach Erik Spoelstra to run, with the latter already implementing himself in a big way this series.

Adebayo has scored 21 points and 26 points respectively in the first two games of this series and he should continue to see an uptick in usage in what is a much more favourable matchup for him versus what he has had to deal with in each round of the playoffs to date.

While Bam’s props are the best way to attack the player markets, we still believe that this is a series Denver should control. Malone’s comments regarding the teams efforts should ring loudly in the dressing room and I’d expect a big response from them in Game 3.

Their defense has been better on the road and their offense should see some positive regression from players not named Nikola Jokic. I’d be laying the 2.5 points with Denver and looking at some Miami Heat team total Unders to match in what should be a heavily correlated outcome.

That’s all for our Nuggets vs Heat Preview. Be sure to check back for all our NBA Finals coverage to help you with your best bets.

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