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Nuggets showing plenty of poise in NBA Finals against Heat

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-16)Basketball Hub290

MIAMI (AP)— The Denver Nuggets act like they’ve been here before.

There isanunmistakablepoiseto the Nuggets, who areonlyone win awayfrom their first NBA championship and couldhoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy as early as Monday night when thefinals return to Denver for Game 5. Their stars have been starry intheir first finals appearance. Their role players have delivered.There hasn’t been a colossal blunder. And even on the cusp of atitle, they refuse to change their approach.

“We need towin one more,” two-time MVP Nikola Jokic said.

That’s theNuggets. Simple. Effective. Blunt.

With Jokicand Jamal Murray leading the way, and with basically a differentperson stepping up to be the third hero every night so far for theNuggets, they have the Miami Heat in serious troublenow.Theylead the finals 3-1and with potentially two of the nextthree games — if needed — in Denver.

“We get anopportunity to play a super competitive game in a greatenvironment,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s going to bean awesome environment. Our guys are built for that. They lovethat. … Yeah, we understand what the narrative will be, but that’sthe way it is with our team.”

Historysays this series is pretty much over; only one team in NBA historyhas dug its way out of such a hole in the finals, that being the2016 Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors. Heatforward Kevin Love played for that Cleveland team.

“Forget thegame,” Love said. “It’s just one possession, one quarter, half byhalf. Just get it done by any means necessary and we’ll figure therest out.”

It will bea daunting task.

The Nuggetshave held Miami under 100 points three times through the first fourgames; those were the three Denver wins in the series. They’re 9-1at home, the only loss coming in Game 2 of this series when Miamipulled off a big rally and survived when a potentially game-tying3-pointer by Jamal Murray missed at the buzzer.

“This iswhat I always tell my guys: Winning a championship will be thehardest thing you ever do,” said Heat forward Udonis Haslem, athree-time champion whose 20-year career ends when this seriesends. “People only talk about the parade and holding up the trophy.They don’t talk about the journey, the sleepless nights, thefrustration, the tears, the pain. They don’t talk about that(stuff). This is all part of that.”

Denverisn’t talking about a parade; some city officials in Dallas wereduring the 2006 finals when the Mavericks led Miami 2-0, and theHeat won the next four games. The Nuggets aren’t making any suchblunders. No blunders at all, really. Every detail is covered, evenremembering to run the 24-second shot clock down to the very end onmultiple possessions in the final minutes of Game 4, just toshorten the game and limit whatever chance Miami had at making acomeback.

“We’ve doneour job. But we’re not celebrating like we’ve done anything yet,”Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We know we’re going to have togo home and turn off the TV, the radio, don’t read the papers,don’t listen to everybody telling you how great you are. … We staytrue to our identity.”

Here’s whatthat means: The Nuggets have two exceptional players, a two-timeMVP in Jokic playing the role of Batman and a still-rising star inMurray happily playing the role of Robin in Denver’s superheroduo.

Jokic — whowill never willingly enter a conversation about his incrediblestats — is on the cusp of becoming the first player to ever leadthe NBA in points, rebounds and assists during a postseason. Murrayis the first player to have at least 10 assists in each of his fourfinals games. They have been the 1-2 punch that has put Miami onthe ropes throughout this series.

And thenthere’s always a third or fourth hero to finish the job. In Game 1,it was Michael Porter Jr. with 14 points and 13 rebounds. In Game3, it was rookie Christian Braun with 15 points on 7-for-8shooting. In Game 4, it was Aaron Gordon with a team-high 27 pointsand Bruce Brown with 21 off the bench.

“That’sjust how this team is built,” Gordon said. “We have guys that canstep up night in and night out. Sometimes it’s not going to be yournight, and sometimes it is going to be your night. This team does agood job finding the people that are kind of in a rhythm and kindof going.”

Jokic getsmost of the credit and doesn’t want it. Murray doesn’t get enoughcredit and doesn’t care about that, either. The other guys, theyjust take their cues from Jokic and Murray and find a way.

If they doit one more time, they’ll be getting rings in a few months.

“We’re justready to win a championship,” Murray said. “We have the tools to doit. It’s been on our minds for a while. We’re just locked in. Idon’t think you’ve got to overthink it. We’re just dialed in, readyto win.”

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