The Miami Heat are one loss away from losing the 2023 NBA Finals after suffering a 108-95 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 4. After a valiant road win in Game 2 to even the series, the Heat dropped back-to-back games at home, losing both contests by double digits.
The two Heat stars led the way with Jimmy Butler going for 25 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists on 9-of-17 shooting, while Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 11 rebounds. And it wasn't as if they didn't get any help from their “teammates” as Butler would call them. Four other Heat players scored at least 11 points, with Kyle Lowry dropping 13, Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love both chipping in 12, and Caleb Martin putting up 11 points as well.
Unfortunately for the Heat, the Nuggets were just too much to handle. Denver controlled much of the game through the first half and countered each Miami run with one of their own, before eventually pulling away in the second half. Three-point shooting and turnovers were the difference in this game, as Denver was on fire from beyond the arc, going 14-of-28, while Miami shot just 8-of-25. The Heat also shot themselves in the foot with 15 turnovers.
Though Miami had several “teammates” step up to support Butler and Adebayo, it wasn't quite enough and the Heat, quite frankly, needed more. With that said, here are the two Heat players most to blame for Game 4 loss to the Nuggets.
1. Gabe Vincent
We would love to give Gabe Vincent some slack here because he has been a revelation for the Heat throughout the playoffs. But that's two straight clunkers from Miami's starting point guard now. After scoring just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting in Game 3, Vincent had just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in Game 4. He missed all of his four three-pointers, had two turnovers, and added just one assist on the box score. He was also a team-low minus-21 on the evening.
To be fair to Vincent, Denver has done its due diligence in focusing their defense more on the spitfire guard. All of his looks were contested or at least had a Nuggets defender within his vicinity. He couldn't get open looks as well because Denver made sure to have a defender attached to him at all times.
Nonetheless, if he isn't able to contribute in the scoring column, Vincent needs to find other ways to be productive. The Heat need everything they can get from everyone, because this Nuggets squad is just simply much better than them.
2. Max Strus
Max Strus was another no-show for the Heat. For the second time in this series, Strus laid a goose egg, missing all four of his shot attempts, three of which were threes. The Heat guard opened the NBA Finals with a scoreless outing, where he went 0-of-9 from beyond the arc. The difference between Game 4 and Game 1, however, is that Strus' looks were much tougher. In Game 1, seven of his threes were wide open.
As for Game 4, a lot of credit has to go to the Nuggets defense for making life tougher for Strus. Shooters like Strus need more shots to get into a rhythm. Denver did a great job in preventing that from happening — holding him to just two shots, tough ones at that, in the first half. The Nuggets have also locked in on having a defender near Strus at all times or making the extra effort to go out and contest his shots.
The Heat are going to bow out in five games if their starting backcourt scores just two points and shoots 1-of-10 from the field, so it's clear this duo has to be better with their season on the line in Game 5 on Monday night.
Follow Us
Subscribe