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Vincent, so precious
Already author of 19 points in Game 1 (Denver win 104-93), Gabe Vincent did even better Sunday night, in the 111-108 victory of Miami in Colorado. He scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 three-pointers. Add to that 3 assists and a pair of steals, not to mention the impact of his points, the timing, and you have a masterclass for Gabe Vincent, ultra-valuable in the collective success of the Heat in Denver. The supposed lack of respect of observers, who see Mike Malone's players as huge favorites in the final against his team? "I speak for the whole team and say we don't care. We just want our four wins," the 26-year-old said after the game. Just like this whole team of starving deaths. Vincent also had enough composure to navigate between the faults.
Jokic's unfinished symphony
Rid of two-man catches, Nikola Jokic had a blast with scoring. Unplayable. The numbers are enough to get an idea of the work: 41 points on 16/28 shooting (the last at 35''1 seconds of the end to bring his team to -3), including 2/5 from afar, 7/8 on shots, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Bam Adebayo or Cody Zeller can't beat Jokic one-on-one. Is that clear. This is not a surprise. Above all, it's not a problem for coach Spoelstra, as long as his men do the job against the other Nuggets... It should be noted that the two-time Serbian MVP committed five losses of ball.
Butler, Adebayo, Robinson... The Heat raises their voice at the end
Miami, king of money-time. Like Duncan Robinson, who scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, the Floridians spent the second in the final sprint. Long too discreet, Jimmy Butler (21 pts, 9 pds) was bleeding in the "money-time", while Bam Adebayo (21 pts, 9 pds) was still valuable. Erik Spoelstra's choice to move to the zone at the end also paid off. All good. Note that Max Strus, aphone in Game 1 (0/10 shooting), put the Heat on the right track with 12 points in the first quarter. Good because Tyler Herro is not here.
" READ ALSO NBA Finals: despite the recital Jokic, Miami equalizes against Denver
FLOPS
"KCP" at fault, Porter Jr was not there
Collectively, the Nuggets failed late in the game (see elsewhere). If we talk about individual performances, "KCP" and Michael Porter Jr played below their level on Sunday night. Cumulatively, they posted 11 points at 3/12 and a horrible +/- of -29. The first named ended the match prematurely with six fouls. Mike Malone will need another contribution from his two outside players to hope to win the championship.
Denver falters at the worst time
The Nuggets extended their lead to +15 in the third quarter. They still had an 8-point lead going into the final 12 minutes. And they faltered. Especially defensively. Overall too lax beyond the arc (48.6% from 3-point range for Miami), Colorado players conceded 36 points in the final quarter. Admittedly, this is not the first time we have seen the Heat come back from nowhere. But Denver should have sealed the fate of this meeting. Especially with a Jokic in MVP mode... Moreover, Jamal Murray (18 pts, 10 pds) could have been in our flops given his second period. That was before planting two three-point banderilles that helped revive the suspense. He even had the shot to tie the game at the buzzer. In the end, coach Malone did not find the key to involve everyone, while Erik Spelstra had made the choice to limit the catches to two on the "Joker".
