Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Nuggets cool off Heat in Denver

The Denver Nuggets outlasted the Heat in the first Finals rendezvous of the season on the second night of a back-to-back. The hosts opened the game on a 9-0 run, and minutes later, they forced Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s hand to call a timeout as the advantage reached double-digits.

Denver sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr. buried a wing triple and made a layup in transition. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shattered outside protections with three trifectas. Nikola Jokić directed the offense as a conductor would a symphony, setting up feeds to three snipers, plus spinning past Bam Adebayo at close range. And the rest of the team converted five of 11 shots, racing out to a 36-20 lead in the first quarter.

On the Heat side, understudy Nikola Jović canned a 3-pointer and scored on the dunker spot. Caleb Martin finished two layups. But not much else happened against man-to-man coverage until Jimmy Butler logged two straight baskets at the end of the period.

Yet, six early points to start the second quarter for the guests was enough for Nuggets coach Michael Malone to call a stoppage. Two dribble handoffs for Robinson, resulting in trays followed, as well two inside baskets for Terry Rozier. No other Heat player recorded more than a field goal in the second frame, but Jaime Jaquez Jr, Adebayo, Rozier and Butler combined for 10 of 12 freebies.

Defensively, the crew held the hosts to 23.8% shooting in the sequence by contesting jump shots on time after the catch. On top of that, doubling in the post and deflecting passes in traffic, created five turnovers.

With over three minutes to go in the first half and the Nuggets’ lead cut to six points, Jamal Murray received a handoff from Aaron Gordon that initiated a pick-and-roll set with Jokić at the top. As Murray dribbled down the left side and passed to his center cutting down the middle, his left foot accidentally stepped on AG’s right shoe. KCP didn’t hesitate to foul, getting his hurt teammate out of the game. (Murray then walked to the locker room and didn’t return for the next half.)

At halftime, the Heat was behind on the scoreboard 51-56 and tied on the glass at 22. Additionally, it racked up 22 paint points, eight on the break, nine via second chances, six after turnovers and nine from the bench. Rozier led all scorers inefficiently, with 10 points on two of seven shots. Butler had nine points, followed by Adebayo, Robinson and Martin, each with eight.

The Nuggets scored 18 interior points, seven on the break, nine on second tries, 11 after turnovers and five from the reserves. MPJ was the high Nugget, registering 18 points on seven of 12 attempts. Next was KCP, with 13 on his ledger and AG’s eight.

Yet, the Heat’s offense stalled out in the third interval, thanks to the Nuggets’ length in the backline disrupting anything Adebayo tried in the paint and the outside defense permitting only 33% of hoisted triples. The Denver outfit contained last year’s first losers to 19 points in the quarter.

Inversely, Porter sprayed the Heat with five baskets- driving on the baseline for a layup after pump-faking Jović, canning two threes, attacking the middle for a five-footer and fading over Martin on the right side. Moreover, Jokić contributed four points, four dimes and four rebounds as the home squad established a 13-point lead entering the final frame.

Jokić carried the champs in fourth, connecting on a turnaround jumper between two defenders, hooking over Adebayo and making four free throws.

But, after making eight of 18 shots through nine minutes, the Heat was down by seven. Next, four consecutive baskets were logged- Adebayo shooting over Jokić twice and Rozier swishing a pair of jumpers.

With 40 seconds left and the Heat four points below, Jokić, at the nail, illegally extended his right arm, clipping Adebayo, and was called for a foul and possession changed. On the next play, Rozier and Adebayo ran a pick-and-pop set that got the former open on the right wing facing Jokić in drop coverage. Rozier airballed.

On the other end, KCP missed a corner 3-pointer, and Butler got downhill quickly for a layup the Nuggets gave him because they didn’t want any trays inflicted on them. Subsequently, the free throw formality followed.

The Heat lost 97-103. It had 48 paint points, 12 on the break, 11 via second chances, 12 after turnovers and 16 from the bench. Adebayo scored 22 points on eight of 18 looks with seven boards. Next, Butler supplied 21 on 41.2% shooting and seven rebounds. Rozier had 19 points on six of 15 attempts.

The Nuggets gathered 40 interior points, nine in the open court, 13 on extra chances, 15 after turnovers and 15 from the reserves. Porter had 30 points, making 52.2% of tries, plus 11 rebounds. Jokić had 18 points and 11 rebounds. And KCP produced 18 on his scorecard.

In the locker room, Adebayo said, “We missed a lot of shots we usually make.”

When asked about assessing the overall performance, Butler said, “They’re where we want to be in the sense of finding a way to win. [Jamal Murray] went down, and they kept at it… We’re not quite there just yet, but we have a little bit more time to get there.”

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