Heat Get Taste Of Own Medicine In Home Losses To Nuggets

This miraculous run to the NBA Finals by the eighth-seeded Miami Heat has been defined by many factors.

Lights out performances from Jimmy Butler characterized Miami’s stunning upset of the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round, and bled similarly into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New York Knicks. But after sustaining an ankle injury late in that game, the hobbled Butler has been somewhat inconsistent from that point forward.

Picking up the slack for Butler has been a rag-tag group of undrafted contributors and over-the-hill veterans, as well as Bam Adebayo, that have willed the Heat through the East and into a Finals meeting with the Denver Nuggets. While Butler’s infectious demeanor and poise has seeped throughout the Heat’s locker room during this Finals run, Miami’s role players have been the spark of this Cinderella story.

The quartet of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin have left their imprint on this playoff run in some fashion, whether that be Martin averaging 19.2 points per game on 60.2 percent shooting — including a 48.9 percent mark from deep — to bury the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, or Strus and Robinson’s deadeye shooting throughout the run, all four have produced pivotal moments that have pushed the Heat into the Finals.

But, the well has run dry against Denver. In fact, the Nuggets have turned Miami’s fortunes into their own gain.

Miami’s role players were feeling themselves entering the Finals, and maintained that chip on their shoulder that had propelled them throughout this run and previous deep trips in 2020 and 2022. Strus and Vincent each took more than 10 shots in Game 1, with Strus becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to shoot 0 of 10, while Martin and Robinson combined to shoot just 2 of 13 from the field — a far cry from their efficiency in the conference finals against Boston.

Strus showed some life in Game 2, shooting 4 of 10 from three while producing 14 points in the win. Vincent was the most notable contributor in that game, hitting 4 of 6 three-point attempts to score a game-best 23 points, including several huge shots late in the game, to push Miami to its lone win of this series thus far.

Returning to Miami with the series knotted up at one game apiece, it appeared that the Heat had a real opportunity to take hold of the series and potentially become the first No. 8 seed to win the Finals. But, the Heat’s role players nose-dived in regard to their productivity, while Denver had a few unsung heroes of their own during the pair of games at the Kaseya Center.

Vincent — who averaged 21.0 points per game on 57/56/100 splits across the first two games in Denver — totaled just nine points in the two games in Miami, seeing his shooting splits dip to 18/10/67 in that span. Strus hit just one field goal across the two contests, shooting an abysmal 9.1 percent, while Robinson and Martin were solid but ultimately non-factors in a pair of backbreaking losses to send the series back to Denver 3-1 in favor of the Nuggets.

To add insult to injury, the Heat were gashed by a Denver attack that was greatly impacted by breakout performances from role players. While Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic each registered 30-point triple-doubles in Denver’s Game 3 win over the Heat, it was a second-half explosion from rookie Christian Braun that ultimately allowed the Nuggets to run away — with Braun tallying 11 of his 15 points across the final 24 minutes of action.

In Game 4, it was the inspired play of Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown that powered the Nuggets. And while Gordon is by no means a true role player, with him serving as the third scoring option and a defensive anchor for this Nuggets team, he played well above his means in the win, tallying a game-high 27 points while making several hustle plays to secure the victory. Brown dealt the death blow to Miami with 16 second-half points, connecting on 6 of 7 shots in the final two quarters.

While the production of Miami’s surprising cast of characters has fallen sharply — with the Heat scoring less than 100 points in three games this series — Denver’s role players have risen to the occasion. With very little time to find a solution, the Heat will need its ancillary guys to rise back to the top in order to dig itself out of the 3-1 hole.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Denver Nuggets