Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets made their NBA Finals debut on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and they did not disappoint. Jokic had a triple-double with games highs of 27 points and 14 assists, to go along with 10 rebounds, as the Nuggets handled the Heat 104-93 at Ball Arena.
Jokic didn’t do it alone, as Jamal Murray added 26 points, six rebounds, and 10 assists. The Nuggets led by as many as 24 points.
The two-time league MVP got open looks for many of his teammates; Denver had five players in double figures, so if Jokic wasn’t scoring, he was helping others to get off, which made Denver’s offense tough to stop.
“That’s how I learned to play basketball, and I think it’s really nice to play — it’s really hard to guard when you don’t know who’s going to attack and how to defend when everybody is moving, everybody is doing something,” Jokic said. “I think it’s a really nice brand of basketball that we have, and everybody buys in. I’m not sure that I did that for us or whatever, but I think everybody contributed, and everybody accepted it.”
Murray agreed with Jokic; Denver can attack teams in many ways.
“If they take the pocket away, we’re looking somewhere else,” Murray said. “If they take me away, then we’re looking somewhere else. We’re just trying to find the open man, find the best shot, find the mismatch. I think we do that throughout the game. So, it’s hard to guard everybody, instead of just one or two guys.
“We make you have to be locked in on defense throughout the game. I think tonight was just a great example of it could be anybody’s night and anybody’s quarter, maybe not your quarter. That’s just Nuggets basketball.”
The Nuggets had 29 assists on 40 field goals; Murray and Jokic had 24 of those 29 assists, and the combo became the third teammates to each record 10-plus assists in a Finals game.
Nuggets basketball is pretty, and if Jokic and Murray continue to play like this, Denver will be tough to beat in these Finals, but Miami will adjust, and we will see what they do in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Notes:
Aaron Gordon scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter; Michael Porter Jr. added 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists; Gabe Vincent chipped in with 19 points.
The Cavs(31-22) continued their three-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat(29-23).
This was a back-and-forth affair, but the Cavs would fall 100-97 after Donovan Mitchell missed a three at the buzzer.
Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the Heat.
The Great:
Evan Mobley led the Cavs with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. He had a team-best +16 rating.
Jarrett Allen recorded another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Not So Great:
Backcourt: Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland had 16 points apiece. They were a combined 13/30 from the field and 5/20 from deep(Mitchell 3/13 3-PT FG, Garland 2/7 3-PT FG). The Cavs, on average, get 49.4 points per game from Mitchell and Garland, but against the Heat, the two combined for 32 points.
Free Throw Line: Cleveland was 6/12(50%) from the charity stripe on Tuesday.
Final 3:28 of Regulation: After an Isaac Okoro three tied things up at 92, the Cavs would make one field goal the rest of the way. Miami went on a 6-1 run over the next two minutes, and ultimately, they held on to get the win.
Bottom Line:
You have to close out games, and right now, the Cavs need to do that at a consistent enough level. Two of their last three losses(Heat and Knicks) have come down to the final possession.
The expectations are high in Cleveland, but this team is not a finished product. The Cavs have a young basketball team who are learning how to win, which takes time.
Cleveland, who has not won two straight since early early January, was not expected to win an NBA title this season. Still a lot of basketball left, but this team has to be a little more consistent.
What’s Next:
The Cavs host the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.
Best of the Rest:
-Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 23 points. Caleb Martin, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro each had 18 points. Adebayo added 11 rebounds, and Martin had a career-high 10 rebounds.
-Caris LeVert had 14 points off the bench for Cleveland.
-Kevin Love(back) missed his fourth game straight game.
In the second half of Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals series against the Boston Celtics., the Miami Heat were without their best player in the playoffs and their best player in this series, Jimmy Butler(knee inflammation), and they were missing Tyler Herro(groin), who sat out the final eight minutes of the fourth.
However, Bam Adebayo scored 14 of his 25 points in the second half, and P.J. Tucker had nine of his 17 points in the second half as the Heat held on to beat the Celtics 109-103 at TD Garden Saturday night.
Miami leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is Monday night in Boston.
Miami led from start to finish and led by as many as 26 points in the first half, but Jaylen Brown came alive in the second half as he had 25 of his 40 points in the second half, including 14 points in the fourth. Boston cut the lead to 93-92 with under three minutes left, but Max Strus would connect on a three; Adebayo hit a jump hook as the Heat went on a 16-8 run to close the game.
Miami came out with renewed purpose on Saturday night after getting routed by Boston in Game 2.
“Well, as everybody knows, in the previous game, they beat us like we stole something,” Adebayo said after the win.”That should wake anybody up, getting beat like that at home. From my point of view, that says it all.”
The Heat got it done, but concern has to shift to Butler and Herro. They were able to weather the storm without both players in Game 3, but if these two are out for an extended period, Miami will have to figure some things out going forward.
“That’s the part that sucks about the game, the injuries, and you know, this is tough,” Kyle Lowry, who scored 11 points after missing the first two games of this series, said. “Jimmy is a warrior. Tyler is a warrior. But we have to continue to stay focused on what we did as a group tonight, and hopefully, those guys will be back and ready to go next game.”
Everybody is battling something at this point of an NBA season, and it could come down to which team is the healthiest. Boston was without Marcus Smart and Al Horford in Game 1, and Jayson Tatum left but returned in the fourth after injuring his shoulder.
It appears we will have a long series; we’ll see who is the last team standing.
The Miami Heat(6-1) came into Tuesday’s game against the Mavericks(4-3), riding a four-game winning streak and playing big-time basketball, but Miami got off to a slow start against Dallas and trailed by as much as 11 in the first quarter.
However, the Heat would score 46 points in the second quarter and took control of the game from there. Ultimately, Miami would win their fifth straight and defeat the Mavericks 125-110 at American Airlines Center.
Dallas dropped their first home game of the season.
Here is the Great, Not so Great, and Bottom Line of Dallas’ loss on Tuesday night.
The Great for the Mavericks:
Luka Doncic did his part for the Mavericks. He had a season-high 33 points, to go along with five assists and three rebounds. He led the team in scoring for the seventh consecutive game. Doncic’s streak of seven games is the longest to begin a season in Mavs’ history.
The fourth-year guard also passed Jason Kidd (5,258) for 14th place on the Mavs’ all-time scoring list.
-Jalen Brunson got his first start of the season and went 10-13 from the field en route to a season-high 25 points. Brunson also had a season-high-tying seven rebounds to go with three assists.
-Miami native Tim Hardaway Jr. compiled 17 points with three rebounds and three assists against his hometown team.
Not so Great for the Mavericks:
Second-Quarter: Dallas was outscored 46-32 in the second quarter on Tuesday night. Miami shot 68% from the field in the quarter, including 8/9 from three-point range. Tyler Herro scored 15 of his team-high 25 points in the quarter off the bench.
Defense: The Mavericks allowed 125 points against the Heat. In addition, Miami shot 52% from the field, including 13/25 from downtown.
“Yeah, it’s tough, any team that has 4 or 5 guys in double figures like that, especially the way they shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from three and 86 percent from the line,” Brunson said.
-Trey Burke, who is unvaccinated, missed the COVID-19 testing window and did not play Tuesday night and won’t play Wednesday against the Spurs. Burke, who will travel with team, missed the testing window for the second time in four games.
Bottom Line:
It would have been difficult to beat Miami with a full roster, and you knew Dallas would have a hard time defeating the Heat without Kristaps Porzingis(back) and Maxi Kleber(strained oblique). Miami is one of the best team’s in basketball, and that was on full display as they had four players with 20+ points.
“The Heat are – I would consider them the best team in the league right now,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. “They’re men and they know how to play.”
What’s Next:
The Mavs play the second game of a back-to-back on the road in San Antonio against the Spurs, who they defeated 104-99 in Dallas.
Best of the Rest:
Jimmy Butler (23), Kyle Lowry (22), and Bam Adebayo (22) all scored 20+ points for Miami. Adebayo added 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double in seven games.
According to the Miami Heat, Herro’s 157 points scored off the bench through the first seven games is the most points by a reserve through his first seven games to open a season in NBA history.
