The Nuggets won game 1 with relative ease beating the Miami Heat 104-93. Here are my takeaways:
Moment Not Too Big
The first and most important thing that I noticed was that the moment did not seem like the moment was not too big for the 2 stars for the Nuggets. Jokic had a triple-double stat line of 27 14 10 and Jamal Murray was 26 6 10. This was the first time two teammates had 25 points and 10 assists since Magic Johnson and James Worthy who did it in 1987. Murray and Jokic had played many big games before game 1 as we all know the finals are a little different in magnitude wise and neither of them looked fazed. Micheal Malone can breathe a big sigh of relief as a result.
2. Has Jimmy Maxed Out?
Jimmy Butler has had a tremendous playoff run. However, if we look closely at the numbers, the numbers from the earlier part of the postseason are vastly better than his last 6-7 games including game 1 where he notched a stat line of 13 7 7 in 38 minutes of action. The show First Things First did a good job pointing out his downward trajectory this postseason. In his first 12 games this postseason, he averaged 31.1 ppg on 51.8% shooting and only 20.7 ppg on 39.3% from the field. These numbers are understandable because he has been carrying the load all postseason and beating teams you are not supposed to beat can take a toll on you as a player but if the Heat have any chance in this series he has to be spectacular like he was vs the Bucks. Can he muster up a masterclass game 2 performance?
3. Denver Defense Fools Gold?
If we just look at the numbers, people would say the Nugget's defense was great as they held a Miami team to 93 points. However, those who watched the game would feel a little different about that. The Nuggets were certainly not bad on defense and were hustling on many plays but they were not as good as the numbers suggest. The Heat missed many wide-open 3s and jumpers in the first 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter, they finally started to hit them and that's when they cut a 21-point lead to 10 and had Denver fans sweating a little bit. Maybe the Heat players finally adjusted to the altitude and found their legs in their jumpers. The defense is still an area for concern for the Nuggets and they need to tighten things up in that department.
Game 2 Pregame Thoughts:
Denver has dominated game 1 in all of the rounds they have played, except for the Lakers, where they were up big but won marginally at the end. So the game 1 result should not be a surprise. Now we shall see how Miami responds in game 2. I believe Erik Spoelstra will come back in game 2 with the right adjustments and this game will be much more competitive but in the end, the Nuggets' homecourt advantage will prevail especially down the stretch in what I believe will be a low-scoring game once again.
Prediction: Nuggets 103 - Heat 99
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