What do the Heat need to do to handle the Nuggets?

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DENVER — After a heartbreaking last-second loss in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals — the fourth straight outing in which he’d scored fewer than 20 points, a night that saw him go just 4-of-16 from the floor — Bam Adebayo fielded a question about what he could do to help the Heat survive a Game 7 back in Boston. His reply was rather matter-of-fact.

“Make a f*****g shot,” he said.

He’d only make four more in Game 7, but Miami did survive, advancing to its second NBA Finals in the last four years and earning a date with the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets. The script flipped for Bam and the Heat on Thursday night: He did make a f*****g shot. Thirteen of them, in fact — two off a career high — as he feasted on the short-roll, 4-on-3 attacks Denver’s drop coverage conceded (and that we mentioned in our series preview!) en route to 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in 40 minutes.

“When Bam is making shots, I think he makes everybody’s job a lot easier,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said after the game.

Not easy enough, though. While Adebayo finally started making shots, Miami’s biggest problem in Game 1, though — well, besides the 6-foot-11, 284-pound one with the shaved head and surgeon’s hands — is that nobody else could.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and star Jimmy Butler have some things to figure for Game 2 Sunday night. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Adebayo’s teammates combined to shoot 15-of-53 (28.3%) through the first three quarters, and just 7-of-27 (25.9%) from 3-point range — a dismal team-wide deep freeze that proved fatal against a Nuggets side that boasts the postseason’s most explosive offense. That relentless Nikola Jokić-led attack, combined with Miami’s inability to consistently trade buckets, allowed Denver to build a lead that ballooned to 24 points late in the third quarter before settling at an 11-point final margin that makes Game 1 sound closer than it was.

“We had some good, clean looks from the 3-point line,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.

A lot of them, actually. Sixteen of the Heat’s 39 long-range…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-06-02 22:03:41

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