Scrappy and relentless, the Miami Heat came to Denver and did what no other team this postseason had done: win.
Jamal Murray missed what would've been a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Heat hung on, 111-108, to seize Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night and even the series at 1-1.
The Nuggets nearly stormed back from a 12-point deficit with only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, but their defense betrayed them. The Heat outscored Denver 36-25 in the fourth quarter.
Beyond Nikola Jokic's 41-point night, Murray was their second-leading scorer with 18 points. Michael Porter Jr. struggled mightily on both ends, finishing with just five points, while Aaron Gordon added only 12.
The Nuggets fell to 9-1 in Denver so far through the playoffs. They'll try and re-group ahead of Wednesday's Game 3 when the series shifts to Miami.
Bam Adebayo finished with 21 points as did Jimmy Butler. But Miami caught fire from the 3-point line, finishing 17 of 35 from outside. It yielded a massive and stunning road victory.
The offensive fluidity that defined Denver all season devolved to a halt midway through the third quarter. Both sides ratcheted up their physicality and each possession became a battle. Only Jokic's offensive brilliance could break up the monotony.
On one possession, he backed down Adebayo and shook him with a quick-twitch shoulder fake. On another, he stepped confidently into a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and buried it. And on and on it went. Whenever the Nuggets needed a bail-out, there was their generational big man to save them.
In the paint, from the free-throw line, or even rumbling in transition, Jokic dissected the Heat. He scored 18 of Denver's 26 points in the quarter. Conversely, Butler continued his jump-shooting struggles. On the strength of their MVP, the Nuggets carried an 83-75 lead into the fourth.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone knew the non-Jokic minutes would be scrutinized on this stage. And, frankly, Miami had a better chance of exploiting those minutes than with Jokic conducting the offense.
"I think throughout these 16 playoff games so far our bench has been great," Malone said on Saturday.
"Regular season, some of those non-Nikola minutes were somewhat of a crapshoot. You didn't know what you were going to get. But I think a big reason for us playing at the level that we've played at was that when Nikola has gone out, the other guys have stepped up and played well. Right now, we have a three-man bench group, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, Christian Braun. … The key for that group is to defend. If you can get stops, you can get out and run."
In the first half, when the Nuggets carried a 57-51 lead into the break, it was their second unit that swung the game. Behind a 21-6 run to start the second quarter, Denver's reserves heeded Malone's request. Braun's energy was infectious, and Brown, Gordon and Jeff Green all buried 3-pointers throughout the pivotal stretch. Murray, who drained one, too, authored the play of the game until that moment when he ripped the ball from Miami's grips and took off in the other direction. He finished a mammoth two-handed jam through contact, drew a foul and then delivered an all-time sneer.
It's Murray's passion, more than any other attribute, that defines him on this stage.
Over the first two quarters, Jokic took what the defense gave him. After totaling just three shots in the first half of Game 1, Miami forced him to score more than he'd prefer. By halftime, Jokic had 13 points on 13 shots, a ratio the Heat could celebrate.
But Miami didn't account for Denver's depth. It made all the difference early on Sunday night.
Late in the first half, Jokic palmed a pass from Murray and delivered a dime to Gordon through the teeth of Miami's defense. Denver's synergy made the sequence spellbinding and, more importantly, unguardable.
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