In the end, it’s coaching that matters most.
Coaching — that is, Erik Spoelstra — is the reason the Miami Heat return to South Beach tied with the Denver Nuggets at one game apiece in the NBA Finals with Game 3 looming Wednesday night.
The Heat trailed by as many as 24 before losing Game 1 by 11 in Denver, but thanks to some tactical adjustments made by Spoelstra, Miami stunned the Nuggets to steal home-court advantage in Game 2. Namely, the Heat forced two-time MVP Nikola Jokic into increasing his scoring load by taking away his passing options. Jokic finished with only four assists to his 41 points, and Denver’s four key three-point shooters combined to shoot just 6-of-20 from downtown.
Spoelstra also changed defensive assignments, putting All-Star wing Jimmy Butler on Denver’s lead guard Jamal Murray after Murray erupted for 26 points in Game 1.
Murray shot just 7-of-15 from the field in Game 2.
“[Denver] is a really good offensive team,” Spoelstra said after the Game 2 victory. “They force you to have to compete at a super-high level, but you have to do it with a brain, and you have to do it with discipline. And our guys — regardless of how the head coach feels during the fourth quarter — our guys love to compete. They love to put themselves out there in those moments of truth, and fortunately we were able to make a lot of defensive plays down the stretch — and then we got a lot of contributions, which you’re gonna need against a team like this.”
Now, it’s Nuggets coach Michael Malone who’ll be expected to have his team ready to combat the Heat in Game 3. It will be coaching that determines whether or not the Nuggets fall into a 3-1 series hole facing two straight games in front of the rowdy Miami fanbase.
Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, meaning the Nuggets must secure at least one game on the road or face an improbable, but not insurmountable feat.
“Miami came in here and out-worked us, and we [played] by far our most undisciplined game of these 16 or 17 playoff games. So many breakdowns, and they exploited every one of those breakdowns and scored,” Malone said after the Game 2 loss. “So if we’re gonna try to go down there and regain control of this series and get home-court advantage back, we’re gonna have to out-work Miami, which we didn’t do tonight, and our discipline’s gonna have to be off the charts.”
And while Malone has the luxury of a two-time MVP in franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic, it’s Spoelstra who has the true advantage. He has never won an NBA Coach of the Year award — nor has Malone for that matter — but it’s clear after yet another surprising playoff run the Heat head coach is among the greatest to ever do it.
“We’re so focused in on what we do well and who we are as a group that at the end of the day, that’s what we fall back on,” said Miami’s All-Star forward Jimmy Butler. “Make or miss shots, we’re gonna be who we are because we’re not worried about anybody else. That’s how it’s been all year long, and that’s not gonna change. I think it’s the ‘I don’t give a damn’ factor.”
This series marks Spoelstra’s sixth NBA Finals appearance since climbing the ranks as a video coordinator to become Heat head coach in 2009. He coached the Heat to four straight Finals appearances — including back-to-back NBA championships with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2012 and 2013 — then re-emerged as a championship-contending coach in the 2020 Orlando bubble. The Heat ultimately lost to LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
And then last season, Spoelstra coached the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 7. He had no such misfortune this time around: The Heat blew a 3-0 series lead to the Celtics but closed them out in Game 7 in Boston to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.
For Spoelstra, this time it’s different. He had been fortunate enough to coach three sure-fire Hall of Famers the last time his Heat team competed for championships. He’s done more with less this time around: Former Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro has missed the entire playoffs with a wrist injury suffered in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Former All-Star Victor Oladipo also suffered a season-ending leg injury in Game 5 of the same series.
“We faced a lot of adversity during the season, and we handled it the right way, where you’re not making excuses about it: the injuries, the changing lineups,” Spoelstra said. “And because of all that adversity and the 57 close games that happened due to a lot of that, it hardened us. It steeled us, and we developed some grit, which is what we all want, right? We all want to be able to have that privilege of having adversity and being able to overcome it. You gain strength from that.”
Now Malone faces all the pressure in the world. This is uncharted territory: His first appearance in the NBA Finals, and his first home playoff loss of this postseason run.
Miami is one of the most difficult cities to play, exponentially when there’s a championship on the line, and Malone’s Nuggets suddenly find themselves in must-win territory.
“They came out in that third quarter with a huge sense of desperation, and we didn’t match that,” Malone said. “Just our inability or unwillingness to get stops and have a defensive mindset in the fourth quarter was very problematic. The numbers speak for themselves: 36 points in the fourth quarter on 69% is gonna make it really hard to win a game in the NBA Finals.”
()