But Denver had enough distance to secure the victory. The Heat trailed 84-60 with 40.6 seconds left in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 96-87 with 2:34 left in the fourth.
#LAKERS VS NUGGETS GAME 5 2009 SERIES#
So, we did not want them coming in here taking control of the series on our court," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
They went into the Garden in New York City and won Game 1. "I reminded our group, if they didn't know that Miami went into Milwaukee and won Game 1. Miami won Game 1 on the road in its three previous playoff series this season but wasn’t able to pull that off against Denver, which improved to 9-0 at home in the postseason. added 14 points and 12 rebounds.ĭenver had ample space driving to the rim and shooting from distance and made 51.3% of its shots. He now has 15 playoff triple-doubles, third most all-time behind Magic Johnson (30) and LeBron James (28).ĭenver’s Jamal Murray had 26 points, Aaron Gordon had 16 points (12 in the first quarter) and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic recorded his ninth playoff triple-double this season with 27 points on 12 shots, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. It was a great start for the Nuggets, who received an efficient scoring effort from two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and his presence as a facilitator opened up opportunities for his teammates. The Nuggets toppled Miami 104-93 Thursday for a 1-0 series lead, and the winner of Game 1 in the Finals has won the championship 69.7% of the time. The numbers speak for themselves: 36 points in the fourth quarter on 69% is gonna make it really hard to win a game in the NBA Finals.DENVER - The biggest concern for the Miami Heat against the Denver Nuggets played out over four quarters in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.ĭenver’s explosive offense, loaded with size, versatility, options, quickness and talented scorers, proved too much for the Heat. “Just our inability or unwillingness to get stops and have a defensive mindset in the fourth quarter was very problematic. “They came out in that third quarter with a huge sense of desperation, and we didn’t match that,” Malone said. Miami is one of the most difficult cities to play, exponentially when there’s a championship on the line, and Malone’s Nuggets suddenly find themselves in must-win territory. This is uncharted territory: His first appearance in the NBA Finals, and his first home playoff loss of this postseason run. Now Malone faces all the pressure in the world. It steeled us, and we developed some grit, which is what we all want, right? We all want to be able to have that privilege of having adversity and being able to overcome it. “And because of all that adversity and the 57 close games that happened due to a lot of that, it hardened us. “We faced a lot of adversity during the season, and we handled it the right way, where you’re not making excuses about it: the injuries, the changing lineups,” Spoelstra said. Former All-Star Victor Oladipo also suffered a season-ending leg injury in Game 5 of the same series.
He’s done more with less this time around: Former Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro has missed the entire playoffs with a wrist injury suffered in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. He had been fortunate enough to coach three sure-fire Hall of Famers the last time his Heat team competed for championships. He had no such misfortune this time around: The Heat blew a 3-0 series lead to the Celtics but closed them out in Game 7 in Boston to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.įor Spoelstra, this time it’s different. And then last season, Spoelstra coached the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 7.
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