NBA Finals | Nuggets vs Heat | Game 3 Recap

Nuggets 109 @ Heat 94 | Kaseya Center | Miami, FL | DEN leads series 2-1

Nuggets Douse Heat in Game 3

The Nuggets showed up strong in Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals, dominating the Heat with a 109-94 victory. How about that "blueprint"; Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra created to stop Nuggets star Nikola Jokic? From start to finish, the Nuggets controlled the game and didn't give the Heat much opportunity to catch up. The first half saw the Heat keep it close being down by only five at the half. Then the third happened and Denver won it by a 29-20 margin to pull away by double digits, Miami was able to shrink it to 9 points in the fourth but Denver responded to close out the 15 point victory on Miami's home court.

This win puts the Nuggets ahead in the series 2-1, leaving the Heat with a tough road ahead if they want to try to come back. With the way the Nuggets played Wednesday night, it's going to be a challenge. The much talked about game two loss by Denver saw their coach Michael Malone chastise his teams effort and challenge them. They responded in a big way with both stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic notch a triple-double as well as a double-double from Aaron Gordon. Even rookie Christian Braun got in on the fun with 15 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes.

Jokic's triple-double was historic as he is the first player in NBA Finals history to go for at least 30/20/10 with his 32 point, 21 rebound, and 10 assists for his slash. Murray paired his triple double to make them the first duo in Finals history to notch 30 point triple doubles. Murray slashed a game high 34 points to go with his 10 rebounds and assists. Gordon just eked out his double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, but did add 4 assists and 1 steal to that slash. Then you had the rookie Braun and veteran Brown giving solid minutes off the bench combining for 20 points, six rebounds, one steal, and three blocks. Truly quality minutes needed with starters Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for just 7 points and 2-11 from three.

The Miami Heat had another abysmal game shooting the rock. As a team they shot 37% from the field and 31% from three. Those are bad in a rec-league game, let alone game three of the NBA Finals. Unlike game one though, no one can say it was simply them missing open shots. This stat line is a direct result of a renewed Nuggets defensive effort we haven't seen outside of spurts since quarter three of game one. Jimmy Butler claims it was just an effort issue in his post game presser, I don't believe that is the case. I saw plenty of hustle with just as many Heat bodies hitting the floor after loose balls and rebound attempts as there was Nuggets flying around.

This is not a matter of more effort needed from Miami, they risk pressing and making things worse. Their stars did plenty with Jimmy Butler notching a team high 28 points with 10 coming in the first quarter. Bam Adebayo had a strong double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds. You can't fault that effort, you can fault only having one other player, Caleb Martin off the bench with 10 points, reaching double digits. Postseason stand out Gabe Vincent was a non-factor with almost as many fouls as points, 7 points and 3 fouls. As much as people liked to talk about Max Strus making his first four three's in game 2, he has made one of the next 13 he's chucked up. That has Strus shooting a paltry 5-23 from deep in the series, an unacceptable 21.7% for a team that lives and dies by the three. If you take away the first five minutes of game two, Strus is just 1-19 from behind the arch. While the strategy of living off the deep ball works for a Warriors team that sports two of the greatest shooters of all time in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Not so much for a team based on pure grit over talent.

This Miami team looks much more like their regular season selves than the white hot postseason they have had up until this series. That is terrible news for Heat fans, as regular season Heat teams have not beat the Nuggets since August 1, 2020. If you remove that bubble win you have to go back to March 18, 2018 where it took them two overtimes to complete. That means including their game two victory Miami is 3-14 in the last five seasons against these Nuggets.

If the Nuggets continue to get the return of Bubble Duo Murray and Jokic, they are nye unstoppable. Add in contributions like the rookie Braun and vet Gordon, they are beyond terrifying for any opponent that can at least match their size. Miami has nothing but fight and grit on their side. If the Nuggets can match that intensity we could have a shorter series than I predicted.

The scariest thing is Denver still has two starters that have yet to make a real impact. KCP has made five, yes just five, shots with just two coming from three in the series. Him fouling out of game two was painful to watch, and therein lies the biggest issue I have had with KCP in these finals, and overall. It's ok to struggle offensively, it's not ok to let that leak into and hurt your defensive effort. This I believe is a direct correlation to seeing him splitting minutes with Bruce Brown as each had at least 28 minutes on the court in game three.

The other starter struggling is much more talked about Michael Porter Jr. The reason he is more prominent in talking points is he is supposed to be the third head on this Rocky Mountain bred Cerberus. MPJ was supposed to be the x-factor, instead, he has been an non-factor offensively. After just 14 points in game one, he has scored seven points in the next two games combined. I will give him credit for giving more of effort defensively than KCP, but with KCP getting a C-, I would only give MPJ a solid B as he is averaging almost nine rebounds per game (8.7 to be exact). He also only has one turnover in three games and committed only three personal fouls. That's half as many as KCP's 6 in game two alone. If these two figure it out and the Denver bench can continue their stellar play with Jokic and Murray taking a breather occasionally (they each registered 44+ minutes in a 15-point blowout), this series could become ugly for the #HeatCulture.

Murray was asked about MPJ specifically after the game and what Porter Jr. should do after missing so many good looks. Murray responded simply "Keep shooting. I'm going to keep running plays for him especially during the game so he can see one go in. We want him to keep shooting the ball and be aggressive." As much as we talk about Miami being resilient for being an 8-seed beating the odds. We need to acknowledge the same with this Nuggets squad despite that 1-seed. Denver is hoping that unwavering faith pays dividend for Porter and Pope going forward. If not, game three showed the depth the Nuggets have that can shore things up while some stars and key players find their footing.

All things favor Denver as they did before the series, and before a gut wrenching loss at home in game two. They need to keep their mantra of "one at a time" if they wish to secure that elusive first championship. Miami has to find their stroke from three if they wish to make this a series again. Either way, should be a fun game to watch on Friday night in Miami.

Overall, Game 3 was an impressive showing from the Nuggets and they clearly have their sights set on taking home the chip. The Heat will need to regroup and come up with a strong game plan if they want to avoid being dominated by the Nuggets like this again and clinching the series in five games on their home court.