2023-06-02 03:42:22
Rolando del Bosque | ESPN DigitalReading: 3 min.
Hand in hand with their ‘Big Three’, being physical and accurate, the Denver Nuggets confirmed their role as favorites in the 2023 NBA Finals by winning Game 1 104-93 over the Miami Heat that throughout the game he did not find a way to stop Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray y Aaron Gordon.
Coach Michael Malone’s quintet maintains his undefeated status at the Ball Arena during these playoffs where he has not lost since March 31 and whose performance in the first chapter of the 2023 Finals bordered on perfect.
You are with some keys to the victory of the Nuggets…
1.- Size and physical power
The bet for Game 1 had to be maximum and this was understood by the Nuggets who took advantage of their size to begin to cement their advantage from the first quarter. Bam Adebayo He didn’t have an accomplice in the paint to face Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and the ‘Joker’.
Coach Erik Spoelstra opted to start with Caleb Martinwho came from a great tie against Boston Celtics and left in the bank Kevin Loveone of the elements not only of experience in the Finals but also with the athletic ability to try to stop Denver’s forwards. Cody Zeller It was not an alternative either and in that sense both Gordon and Porter Jr. entered the paint as many times as they wanted to do damage, but also to recover tables. Porter finished with 13 rebounds (same amount as Adebayo), 11 of them defensive.
2.- Headlines in double digits vs. poor contribution from the cast of the Heat and low percentages
While of Denver’s five starters, four finished in double figures (Jokic, Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon), the Heat lacked support and Caleb Martin’s poor performance, Max Strusa lukewarm Jimmy Butleradded to the poor percentages from the field and three-pointers made the distance on the scoreboard between one and the other evident in three quarters of the game.
Martin’s contribution from the arc was a triple during 25 minutes on the court (in the series against Boston he recorded 60% from the field), while Strus did not have a single point in 21 minutes of the game, going 0-10 from the field and 0-9 in triples. Here the Heat gave a lot of advantage, since both Martin and Strus had stood out for their effectiveness in previous qualifiers.
2.1.- Nuggets closed the painting
Denver played to close the paint, bet on its strength and in Game 1 it paid off, as the Heat only went to the ‘sigh line’ once, via Haywood Highsmith who hit both, from then on no other Miami player stopped in that area that was well guarded by Denver and forced those from Florida to shoot on a night where the aim was not with them when they left with 39-96 from the field ( 40.6%) and 13-39 in triples (33.3%). From the bank, the quintessential Miami ‘sniper’, Duncan Robinson he left with three units (1-5).
3.- ¿Y Jimmy Butler?
If anything helped the Heat reach these levels, it was the contribution of their great leader, Jimmy Butler, who in this first game caught the passivity of the rest of his teammates and scored 13 goals throughout the night; Until the third quarter, Butler registered seven points to add seven rebounds and the same number of assists at the end of the game.
Coach Spoelstra has a lot to adjust ahead of Game 2 at Ball Arena on Sunday if he doesn’t want his trip to the 2023 NBA Finals to end sooner than planned for his team.
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