33, 48, 31, 32. These are not the points scored by Nikola Jokic in these Finals, but the percentage of success at 3-pts of the Heat in these four meetings. A simple glance shows that Game 2 was more successful than the others. No coincidence: it’s the only one won by Miami…
For the rest, the Nuggets defense perfectly contained the shooters, who lost address significantly compared to the conference final in particular.
“We have to do better in attack overall”explains Erik Spoelstra at a press conference. “Denver clearly made an adjustment to block our 3-point shooters. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this. We have done good things each time in the last two matches, but we have to do them all at the same time. It won’t be perfect, but we have to do more on our strengths. »
Less alert in the second set, to the chagrin of Michael Malone, Denver defenders reacted in Florida with two very solid performances, where they never took their eyes off the shooters. The Max Strus, Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent or Duncan Robinson have had less space to express themselves.
“They focused on this point, helping a little less on penetrations and staying close to the shooters”notes the latter, who had been so valuable in Game 2. “We have to adapt, we are used to it. And we still think we can get some good award-winning shots. It’s about setting up our attack, with rhythm, and playing with our strengths. »
Spaces near the circle for Miami
Jamal Murray confirms this desire of the Nuggets, who have made a choice between offering open shots at 3-pts or near the circle, choosing the second option.
“Miami shooters move on every penetration. We can’t give good shots to these players.” announces the game master. “We know they’re going to shoot, but as long as we’re disciplined and we keep defending, we’ll be in good shape. We left some easy layups and dunks in the last game. If we take that away, we’re taking a lot of oxygen out of this team and choking off their offense. We stay glued to the shooters, leaving Aaron Gordon in one-on-one on Jimmy Butler, the same with Nikola Jokic. We want to avoid easy shots and challenge shots. »
Like Duncan Robinson, after the two defeats in Miami, Kyle Lowry is not as strict on the quality of the shots obtained by him and his teammates. It is above all a question of address. “We collectively found good shots and rhythm in attack. We did not put all our shots”regrets the 2019 champion.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jimmy Butler | 64 | 33.4 | 53.9 | 35.0 | 85.0 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 22.9 |
| Bam Adebayo | 75 | 34.6 | 54.0 | 8.3 | 80.6 | 2.5 | 6.7 | 9.2 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 20.4 |
| Tyler Herro | 67 | 34.9 | 43.9 | 37.8 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 20.1 |
| Max Strus | 80 | 28.4 | 41.0 | 35.0 | 87.6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 11.5 |
| Kyle Lowry | 55 | 31.2 | 40.4 | 34.5 | 85.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 11.2 |
| Victor Oladipo | 42 | 26.3 | 39.7 | 33.0 | 74.7 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 10.7 |
| Caleb Martin | 71 | 29.3 | 46.4 | 35.6 | 80.5 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 9.6 |
| Gabe Vincent | 68 | 25.9 | 40.2 | 33.4 | 87.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Kevin Love | 21 | 19.9 | 38.8 | 29.7 | 85.7 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 7.7 |
| Cody Zeller | 15 | 14.4 | 62.7 | 0.0 | 68.6 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 6.5 |
| Duncan Robinson | 42 | 16.5 | 37.1 | 32.8 | 90.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 6.4 |
| Dewayne Dedmon | 30 | 11.7 | 49.6 | 29.7 | 72.7 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| Nikola Jovic | 15 | 13.6 | 40.6 | 22.9 | 94.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Jamal Cain | 18 | 13.3 | 56.1 | 35.0 | 77.3 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| Omer Yurtseven | 9 | 9.2 | 59.3 | 42.9 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Haywood Highsmith | 54 | 18.0 | 43.1 | 33.9 | 46.4 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| Udonis Haslem | 7 | 10.1 | 34.5 | 33.3 | 80.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| Jamaree Bouyea | 4 | 16.3 | 46.2 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Orlando Robinson | 31 | 13.7 | 52.8 | 0.0 | 71.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 3.7 |
| Dru Smith | 5 | 13.4 | 35.7 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
