Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
Audio By Carbonatix
The Miami Heat’s gutsy 111-108 win on Sunday night over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Finals put to rest any rumors that the team will suffer some quick demise in the championship series.
As the saying goes – it ain’t so fun when the rabbit got the gun. And in less than 48 hours, Miami has gone from consensus underdog to sitting in the driver’s seat to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy as both teams board a plane to Miami for Games 3 and 4.
Propelled by outstanding performances from Gabe Vincent, who scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, who each contributed 21 points, and a timely ten points off the bench from Duncan Robinson, the Heat have managed to even the series at 1-1 and flip the narrative in the process.
If the Denver Nuggets want to win their franchise’s first-ever NBA title, they’ll have to deal with a stalwart Heat team that will fight at every turn. No sweeps or cakewalks will be happening with Miami involved. Ask, well, everyone, including the toddler lifted triumphantly into the air at the Kaseya Center watch party after the Heat sealed the deal.
Is this child "a baby"? cc: @jeremytache
— Ryan Yousefi (@Rizzmiggiz) June 5, 2023
Gamechanger: Duncan Robinson
What do you do when your season is on the line? You turn the Duncan Robinson music all the way up, of course.
With the Heat down by as much as 15 points in the third quarter, and the game bordering on getting out of hand with the Nuggets running downhill, Robinson and his silky stroke stepped up to the challenge and resurrected the Heat’s prospects in Game 2.
What Miami kids will come to know as the “Duncan Game” culminated with a saucy layup that pushed the Heat ahead and forced the Nuggets into a timeout. Robinson flashed a stanky face on his way back to the Heat’s bench, flexed on them, and the rest was history.
While the box score will show Robinson with a seemingly modest ten points, he racked up those baskets in 17 minutes of play time off the bench, and his contributions came at crucial junctures in the game, catapulting the Heat from the danger zone into the victory lane.
Duncan Robinson has the GUTS. #WINNING pic.twitter.com/rpsYu9KNNC
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) June 5, 2023
Spo Knows: Kevin Love Starts
After some stellar playoff performances from forward Caleb Martin, a lesser coach may not have the testículos to move him back to the bench after a single rough showing in Game 1. But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra knows precisely what he’s doing and what adjustments need to be made, and he went back to starting Kevin Love in Game 2.
Love provided some extra height to keep Denver’s towering trio of Nikola Jokić, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon from dominating in the paint.
The switchup to the starting five yielded an instant impact, as Love made all the right passes, stretched the floor, and pulled down ten rebounds in the win. With the best coach in the league on their bench, the Heat are always a threat in a best-of-seven series. Sunday night was just the latest example.
K Love back in the first 5 pic.twitter.com/7fJdhYLyyk
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) June 4, 2023
What’s Next: Game 3, Miami, Kaseya Center, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
They say it’s not a series until a home team loses a game. With the Heat stealing homecourt advantage with its Game 2 win in Denver and the series shifting back to Miami for Games 3 and 4, it appears folks are in for a much more interesting NBA Finals than they anticipated after Game 1.
Series on. The Heat is on. In case the Kaseya Center forgot, we’ll see the Heat and Nuggets back in Miami on Wednesday for the biggest game of the season.
