Entering Game 3 of NBA Finals, Heat are loose and Nuggets facing adversity

MIAMI (AP) —Erik Spoelstra has preached about the value of adversity formonths, not shying away from saying that it helped the Miami Heatget to these NBA Finals.

And nowDenver is dealing with a little taste of it as well.

Game 3 of theNBA Finals is Wednesday night in Miami, the series between theeighth-seeded Heat and top-seeded Nuggets is knotted at a gameapiece. It got that way after Miami rallied to win Game 2 in Denver 111-108on Sunday night,an outcome that prompted Nuggets coach Michael Malone to openlyshare frustrations — primarily over a lack of discipline on a lotof possessions.

“We had areally good film session this morning,” Malone said Tuesday. “Igave an opportunity for everybody on our team to speak and talkabout what they saw on the film. It was a very honest conversation.Guys owned what they needed to own. We have to learn from Game 2 touse it to our advantage.”

In otherwords, Denver needs to do what Miami did coming out of Game 1.

The Heatfaced significant deficits in both games in Denver —24points in Game 1and 15 points in Game 2. And while therewas a comeback try in the opener, getting within nine late, theHeat managed to erase the whole deficit and then some in Game2.

“You’re inthe finals,” said Spoelstra, seeking his third championship ascoach of the Heat. “You’re going to be dealing with great players,great teams. You have to find a way to overcome it and make itdifficult and do a lot of things that are tough.”

Wednesday’swinner obviously gets the upper hand with a 2-1 series lead, andhistory will tip in that team’s favor as well. When a finals istied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to eventually claim thetitle 80% of the time (32 times in 40 past instances). And 2-1series leaders, regardless of whether they won Game 3 or not, havetaken the title 79% of the time (49 times in 62 pastinstances).

The Heat arein the finals for the second time in four seasons, but are playingtheir first finals game actually at home since 2014 — the 2020appearance was in the bubble, with no fans in the buildings formost of that experience and only a few family members for thefinals.

“No matterwhat, they are going to be behind you,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said.“They are going to give you energy. You know, if the other team ison the run, they are going to give you a little boost. If you’re ona run, there’s going to be a crazy boost. The overall energy foryour team and your group, it will give you a little bit of a lift —but it won’t win you the game, because you’ve still got to go outthere and hoop.”

Hooping atthe end of games hasn’t been an issue for Miami in this series. TheHeat are outscoring Denver 66-45 in fourth quarters in this series,shooting 64% to the Nuggets’ 44% in the final period and holding a33-9 edge in points off 3-pointers.

But the firstthree quarters, they’ve trended big-time toward Denver. The Nuggetshave outscored Miami 167-138 in those periods, outshooting the Heat53% to 39%. Miami has outscored Denver 57-48 on 3s in thosequarters, but that’s nothing like the unmanageable margin theNuggets have dealt with in final quarters.

“Just don’tget them wide-open looks,” said Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who isaveraging 34 points, 10.5 rebounds and nine assists in his firsttwo finals games. “Yes, we know they’re going to score. Yes, weknow they have talented players. But we cannot give them openlooks, and that was the main key.”

There wasn’ta lot of worry coming from either side Tuesday, when the teams hadto go through the obligatory public workouts as part of the NBAmedia off-day slate. The Nuggets were loose, smiling a lot. TheHeat were doing much of the same.

Moods willchange by the end of Wednesday night. One of the teams — either thebig pre-finals favorite Nuggets, or the eighth-seeded,nothing-to-lose Heat — is going to be two wins away from atitle.

“When we’reworking we still like to have fun and keep it loose,” Heat forwardKevin Love said. “It keeps us loose out there on the court startingthe game and throughout 48 minutes. But it’s not without intentionand the willingness to do whatever it takes.”