DENVER – Aaron Gordon sat at his locker and occasionally shook his head. The object of his gaze shifted—his phone, a spec sheet, the ground at his feet—as if he were searching for something. Maybe some answers as to what the hell just happened out there.
Denver had led Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals Sunday night by 15 points midway through the second quarter and by 8 points in the third quarter with less than a minute remaining. But after a fourth quarter that saw the Nuggets blast goals – a 36-25 result marked by horrible defensive errors, repeated unforced errors and a widespread lack of composure, punctuated by a supposedly equalizing 3-pointer from Jamal Murray, who bounced off the front of the field in the final second of a 111-108 loss – the armor the West’s No. 1 had built in 13 post-season wins lay dismantled at her feet.
Your lead over the Miami Heat in these finals? Went. Her perfect home record this postseason? Went. Home advantage in this seven-game series? Went. Your standing as the bigger, stronger and more physical team in this duel? The notion that her overwhelming offense alone could be enough to lift the Larry O’B? Went. (According to Cleaning the Glass, Denver averaged 125.6 points per 100 possessions in Game 2 — even above his best playoff average. But Miami, who struggled to get the ball in the basket in Game 1, posted a searing 129.1 Points per 100 – this postseason’s highest offensive rating.)
And all the good vibes her dominant three quarters game evokes in Game 1? At least for now: gone.
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić (15) attempts a shot against the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo (13) and Kyle Lowry (7) in the fourth quarter during Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Ball Arena on Sunday. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
When the fans left the ball arena, all they had to do was search for answers. If Gordon found something, we’ll have to wait to hear it: Shortly after he showered and got dressed, it was revealed that he did he was not well and would not address the media as planned. (It’s perhaps worth noting that Heat forward Caleb Martin missed Saturday’s media availability due to illness and was reportedly cleared for Game 2 Dealing with migraines and chillsand played 21 minutes without a substitute.)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Porter Jr. also made early exits. It’s not clear if they also felt a bit battered after scoring 11 points in a 3-for-12 shoot-out, with veteran Caldwell-Pope knocked out in the last minute and Porter Jr. sitting out most of the fourth quarter had to .
Post-game, Nikola Jokić was actually on the podium and dutifully answered questions about whether he felt Miami was playing him on goal rather than pass, Denver’s late-game offensive stagnation and the challenges of dealing with Bam Adebayo in the pick -and roll. However, when asked about the mood and sentiment among the players in the Nuggets’ locker room after the loss, the mood of the two-time MVP changed.
“I don’t know…” he began. Then he stopped and looked away from the podium.
“Can’t I answer that question?” he asked a Nuggets media rep, who nodded.
“Next question,” said Jokić.
Sometimes when you don’t say anything, you say a lot.
Michael Malone spoke a lot on Saturday when he told reporters that he didn’t think his team played particularly well despite their 11-point win in Game 1. He probably didn’t enjoy saying “I told you so” on Sunday. But after looking at a starting lineup that has ranked among the best in the NBA since October — outperforming their opponents by 13.1 points per 100 possessions in the regular season and by 10.3 points in the postseason at the start of Game 2 per 100 — the author starts carelessly with both the first and third quarters, he felt compelled to do it anyway.
“Let’s talk effort,” Malone said. “This is the NBA Finals and we’re talking effort. That is of great concern to me. When I said we didn’t play well, you probably thought I just made up a storyline after Game 1. We didn’t play well. …We’ve had people out there who were just, whether they felt sorry for themselves for not taking shots or thought they could just turn it on or off — this isn’t preseason. This is not the regular season. These are the NBA Finals. This is really, really confusing to me. Disappointing.”
The coach wasn’t the only one confused.
“These are the damn finals, man,” said veteran forward Jeff Green, who had 9 points in 16 minutes without being substituted on. “Our energy needs to get better. We can’t come out like we did and we need to get better.”
The Nuggets’ three-man reserve corps, consisting of Green, Bruce Brown and Christian Braun, brought the energy the first group lacked by getting in the way of Miami’s ball leaders, forcing turnovers, sprinting the floor in transition, attacking the rim and three-pointers struck. This group led a 31-9 run over nine minutes of play spanning the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter, bringing the game back to Denver conditions and building one with five minutes remaining in the first half Lead from 50:35 to .
However, when the starters returned, the concentration seemed to evaporate. A 12-2 win in Miami fueled by errors from Denver – overly aggressive assists and closeouts that created 3-point prospects, turnovers that led to fast-break buckets, bailout fouls on 3-pointers ( something that happened multiple times in Game 2) and a lack of physicality in pick-and-roll coverage – helped the Heat regain two possession points before the break. As Denver came out of the half-time break, dropping 11 points on four possessions in the first minute and a half of the third period, Malone called a time-out to complain about the steady barrage of wasted attempts and half-hearted closeouts.
“There were misunderstandings, schedule errors, staff breakdowns,” Malone said as Miami shot 17-35 (48.6%) from 3-point range in Game 2. “…As I mentioned after Game 1, the fact that they were dealt 16 fully open 3’s was worrying. You didn’t do them. So we got lucky in Game 1. Tonight they made them. It was definitely a communication failure. It was definitely a mistake in our game plan. And like I said, we just weren’t nearly as disciplined as you need to be at the NBA Finals.”
Despite this inconsistent discipline, the Nuggets held a lead in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to Jokić’s brilliance. He scored 18 points in the third run alone and had 31 points in 12-for-23 shooting with 31 minutes left in the final frame. The sloppiness and lack of attention to detail reared its ugly face early on, however, when Duncan Robinson — whom Denver had choked off in the first half and held the sniper without a shot attempt for five ineffective minutes of the first half — finally found some breathing room and became warmed up quickly.
“For me, the wheels were really off the rails at the start of the fourth quarter,” Malone said. “They got what they wanted – three-pointers, layups – and that again allowed them to sit back in their zoning offense and slow the game down. We had a hard time getting stops and had trouble making baskets at the other end. Our defense needs to be a lot better. That’s two fourth quarters, Game 1 and Game 2, where our defense wasn’t there in the fourth quarter.”
As the wheels started to shake early in the fourth heat, Brown said the team’s mentality was simple, “stick together and try to get a stop.” If we get a stop, we know we’re on the other side, so let’s try to stick together and get a goal.” When they couldn’t, Miami shot 6-of-7 on 2-pointers, 5-of-9 on 3-pointers, and 9-of- 10 on free throws, with beautiful ball and body movement taking the lead on 9 assists on 11 marks – it felt like playing in quicksand.
“It’s a loss when you give up one mistake after another and it’s not them that beat you, it’s you give them open dunks or open shots,” said Murray, who finished with 18 points and 10 assists, including two 3: Clues late as Denver attempted to stage a comeback. “It’s hard to come back from that. … We can’t just have bouts of ‘good in Q2’, ‘good at end of Q3’. We can’t have relapses with good play. We have to persevere – through ups and downs, staying together and playing with intensity and energy. And I don’t think we had that.”
And against a confident, astute, relentless Heat team that never lacks in intensity or energy and prides itself on capitalizing on every mistake, such a dramatic late-game blunder can prove fatal.
“I thought for three quarters tonight, actually the defense was pretty good,” Malone said. “I think at the start of the fourth quarter they shot up 43%. But in the fourth quarter you give up 36 points at 69% from the field. That is not enough. That is not enough.”
Back in the locker room after the game, while Gordon continued to search, Brown donned his cowboy hat and displayed a measure of confidence, albeit with a cold cup of coffee self-reflection.
“We’re going to be fine,” said Brown, who had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes without a substitution. “I think we needed that to wake us up a little.”
When asked why he felt they needed such a wake-up call, Brown paused for a moment.
“I mean, I’ve just been thinking for the past few days that our focus wasn’t where it was supposed to be,” Brown said. “But it will be the next game.”
It should be better. Anything else, and the dreams of the first title in franchise history that have been buzzing on so many heads in Denver for the past few days, may be beginning to give way to nightmares of golden opportunities missing out on them.