Down 3-1 in NBA Finals, Miami Heat looking for inspiration

DENVER (AP) —The Miami Heat are searching for inspiration anywhere they can findit, including a tennis great’s record-setting win at the FrenchOpen and even theirmascot’squick reboundfrom a few punches to the face.

Jimmy Butlerand the Heat might be down 3-1 in the NBA Finals against theNuggets heading into Game 5 on Monday night in Denver, but theyhardly consider themselves out.

“(Our belief)is at an all-time high,” said Butler, whose team is hoping to avoidwatching the Nuggets celebrate their first NBA title. “It alwayshas been all year. It always will be.”

From Day 1,the Heat have demonstrated their scrappiness. At first, it was inscrimmages against each other in training camp and later in earningthe No. 8 seed into the postseason through a second chance in theplay-in tournament. They knocked out Giannis Antetokounmpo andMilwaukee in the first round, then the New York Knicks, andrebounded in Game 7 in Boston after squandering 3-0 lead in theEastern Conference finals.

Bottom line:They’re used to doing things the hard way.

“They lovethe ultimate challenges and the ultimate competition,” Heat coachErik Spoelstra said. “The narratives are not going to decide it.Whatever the analytics are about 3-1, that ain’t going to decideit. It’s going to be decided between those four lines, whose gamecan get to whose game and ultimately win at the end. That’s whatour guys love.”

A littlemotivation goes a long way, too. They drew encouragement fromSerbian great Novak Djokovicearninghis men’s-record 23rd Grand Slam singleschampionshipSunday with a victory over Casper Ruud.

The Heat aretrying to channel the inner belief Djokovic displayed as they faceanotherSerbianstandout inNuggets big man Nikola Jokic.

“(Djokovic)has talked about that mental side of the game,” said Spoelstra, whohad no update on the availability of Tyler Herro, the sharpshootingguard sidelined by a hand injury. “We have a very stubborn anddefiant group, and I think it’s good to have a little bit ofdefiance from time-to-time.”

For tenacity,the Heat don’t need to look any farther than their mascot, Burnie,who took two punches from former UFC champion Conor McGregor in askit that led to the person in the costume seeking medicalattention. Burnie could be back on the court, though, should theHeat force a Game 6 in Miami on Thursday.

“That’s theMiami Heat toughness that we’re talking about,” Spoesltra said ofthe mascot’s return. “He should have been allowed to take the firstswing. We won’t reveal who that is, but yeah, he can take a punchand get back up.”

The Nuggetshave the Heat down on the canvas, with no desire to let them backup. Still, they realize it won’t be easy.

Closeoutgames rarely are.

“Obviously,they’ve been doubted the whole year and they made it this far for areason,” said Nuggets guard/forward Bruce Brown, whose team is 9-1at home, with the lone blemish in Game 2 against Miami. “It’s goingto be crazy. It’s going to be loud. The fans are going to be hereprobably early. But I can’t wait. I feed off their energy, sohopefully it’s going to be a big night.”

The Nuggetshave history on their side. Of the 36 teamsthathave fallen behind 3-1in the NBA Finals, the lone one tocome back to win the title was the 2016 Cleveland team led byLeBron James against Golden State.

On thatCavaliers squad was Kevin Love, the 34-year-old Heat forward who’sbeen preaching that anything can happen.

“You reallyjust have to take it one possession at a time,” Love said. “It’sjust one possession, one quarter, half-to-half. Just get it done byany means necessary and figure the rest out.”

Butlercouldn’t agree more. Just don’t mention moral victories and howmuch they’ve accomplished.

It’s ring orbust.

“All theodds, 8-seed — nah, none of that matters,” Butler said. “It’s justtwo really good basketball teams. One has to get one win, and onehas to get three. Let’s just hope that the other that has to getthree, gets three.”