The Miami Heat lost a Game 1 for the first time in this postseason after dropping the 2023 NBA Finals opener to the Denver Nuggets, 104-93. The Nuggets were in cruise control through most of the game, while the Heat struggled to put the ball in the basket.

Bam Adebayo was Miami's best player in Game 1. The Heat center finally found his rhythm from the field, going 13-of-25 to finish with a team-high 26 points to go along with 13 rebounds and five assists. Gabe Vincent also had a strong outing with 19 points, five assists, and five three-pointers. Do you notice someone missing from the Heat top players in Game 1? That's right. Jimmy Butler.

Adebayo and Vincent certainly did their part in helping keep Miami in step with Denver, though it should be noted the Nuggets will surely be fine with Bam taking 25 shots and zero free throws. And for the Heat to even have a chance to compete against this loaded Nuggets squad, they will need a lot more than what they got in Game 1, especially from their franchise star. With that said, here are the three Heat players most to blame for their Game 1 NBA Finals loss to the Nuggets.

1. Jimmy Butler

This is an easy one. Jimmy Butler didn't channel Playoff Jimmy for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Heat forward finished with just 13 points on Thursday night, going 6-of-14 from the field. He was also a minus-17 for the evening, the lowest plus-minus among all Heat players. For comparison, Haywood Highsmith scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Heat in Game 1. Honestly, those stats are all you need to know to find out if Miami won or lost this game.

We mentioned how Butler will need to set the tone for the Heat in this series. And for a moment there, it seemed like Miami was going to get a strong performance from their franchise star. He scored the first five points for Miami and finished with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting for the Heat. While the shooting wasn't good, it was a good sign he was aggressive early.

But after the first, he shot just seven more times from the field the rest of the way. Butler cannot be as passive as he was for three quarters if the Heat want to have a chance against the Nuggets. Butler will have to be aggressive, assertive and be in attack mode through 48 minutes. That's just the kind of burden he has as a superstar, especially when they are facing a sound and highly efficient offense like Denver.

Simply put, zero free throws won't cut it the rest of this series, and Jimmy Butler knows it.

2. Max Strus

Max Strus had a brutal outing in Game 1. The 27-year-old laid a goose egg in the Finals opener and bricked all 10 of his shots from the field, nine of which came from beyond the arc. Seven of those looks were either wide open or with little resistance from the Denver defense.

This may have been a different game had Strus connected on at least three of those looks. But nonetheless, the Heat must be relatively happy with the shots they were able to generate for Strus, who has shot 35.9 percent from deep prior to the NBA Finals.

Strus should quickly forget about his Game 1 shooting struggles. Those shots will fall, as long as he gets similar looks the rest of the series.

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3. Caleb Martin

Caleb Martin entered the NBA Finals with a lot of shine, and with good reason. He had a scintillating performance in Game 7 on the road against the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately for Miami, that did not carry over in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Martin had a forgettable Finals debut, finishing with just three points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field.

Denver's size clearly bothered Martin as he was blocked on a couple of his strong drives to the rim. Nonetheless, he did get a couple of open looks that he would have made had this been a Game 7 in Boston.

The Heat can just chalk this up as a bad shooting night from the 6-foot-5 guard. The Heat will need him to remain aggressive and in attack mode to win this series.