The Miami Heat were able to beat the Denver Nuggets, 111-108, in Game 2. Bam Adebayo and a new defensive gameplan for the Heat led to the victory.
On their way to tying up the series 1-1, the Heat went back to their old ways of shooting hot from three. In addition to that, a new game-plan for handling the two time MVP helped secure their victory.
This was a very weird game that started out with Miami up. After a controlling start to the game for Heat, the Nuggets turned things around. It seemed like this series was on the way to a early end, but Miami came back in the fourth to take the lead.
Denver was able to cut the game to one possession in the final seconds but Jamal Murray missed a three as Miami took Game 2.
3 reasons the Heat won Game 2 over the Nuggets
Gabe Vincent
I will not lie, it was tempting to put Duncan Robinson after that stretch in the second half of the playoffs. Still, his only offensive impact was during that part of the game.
With that in mind, Gabe Vincent had a very solid game. He ended up with 23 points on 66 percent shooting from the floor.
He was killer from three in this game as he shot 66 percent from three and made four from distance. In a game where Jimmy Butler wasn’t really active until the fourth quarter, Vincent came up to play.
The gameplan against Nikola Jokic
The Heat switched out Caleb Martin for Kevin Love in their starting lineup in this game. Although that change didn’t due much, the Heat were able to make other adjustments that forced Nikola Jokic to not be as much of a playmaker as he was in Game 1.
The Miami Heat realized they do not have the personal to contain Jokic’s scoring ability. Instead, they decided to make sure he couldn’t get a lot of dimes. He only ended up with four assists and that was due to the Heat’s ability to contain the passing lanes when Jokic had the ball.
Two-time MVPs in their prime will get theirs in a game. Certainly with his 40+ points performance, he made his presence felt. Still, the Heat limited his game. With stars that is all you can do.
Bam Adebayo
If the Heat had a Finals MVP through the first two games, Bam Adebayo would be it. He followed up his very good game in Game 1 with another offensive showcase.
He was really aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. Coming into this series, one of the flaws of Adebayo game is not a very aggressive offensive player.
He hasn’t been able to stop a lot against Denver bigs in this series on the defensive end. Still in fairness, it is a bit hard to do when you are Miami’s only big worthy of NBA Finals minutes. No offense to Kevin Love and Hayword Highsmith (P.S. Haysmith deserves all of Cody Zeller’s minutes).
On the offensive end, Adebayo has been the man. He ended up with 21 points on 57 percent shooting from the floor. Also, he had nine rebounds and four assists.
Caleb Martin still played horribly but Miami shot amazing from the floor. In Game 1, it seemed like their miracle run from the three point arc was over. Turns out, Miami still had something cooking on their way to a Game 2 win.
