Then sit back and hope his teammates fall asleep at the switch. Take away his passing sorcery by daring him to shoot. But there’s no better coach in the league than Erik Spoelstra, whose demeanor is a pastel shade of Miami breezy compared to Malone’s chew-the-furniture competitiveness.ĭid Spoelstra just figure out the trick to unnerving the Nuggets?īefore the revolting developments of a soggy spring evening in Colorado put my big plans to attend a victory parade in the Colorado sunshine on hold, the Nuggets were 9-0 at home and had lost only three previous times this postseason.Īnd know what’s wacky? Jokic’s three biggest scoring games of the playoffs have happened in three of four times Denver has taken the “L” in the playoffs.Ĭould it be this is the master strategy against the Nuggets? Let Joker score. The Nuggets are better at basketball than the Heat. Malone cited players on the court “feeling sorry for themselves, for not making shots.”ĭon’t know about you, but that sounded like a shot fired by a frustrated coach at MPJ. But when his shot isn’t falling, the “P” in MPJ can still stand for pouting.

Yes, Porter’s game has matured from the time he was strictly a catch-and-shoot specialist, with more consistent defensive effort applauded and appreciated by teammates. A player with a silky shooting stroke is now an atrocious 3-of-17 from beyond the 3-point arc in the Finals. He scored only five points and lost his focus. the NBA Finals allow no nights off, and a player paid an average annual salary of nearly $35.8 million is expected to show up? While we’re contemplating the book of regrets for a shockingly unfocused and undisciplined effort by a Denver team performing on basketball’s biggest stage, would somebody kindly inform forward Michael Porter Jr. You take a timeout and let them get set,” Malone said.

“Their half-court defense was giving us a lot of trouble in the fourth quarter. Bruce Brown (11) of the Denver Nuggets scores against Jimmy Butler (22) of the Miami Heat during Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena in Denver on June 04, 2023.

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