After the Miami Heat’s victory away from home, Jimmy Butler seeks to maintain a good record at the Kaseya Center, in Miami, for Game 3 of the NBA Finals
The last game in Denver between Nuggets It is heat was a surprise for those who didn’t expect Miami’s victory, away from home, on top of a good performance by Nikola Jokic It is Jamal Murray. And the clash at Ball Arena, which ended 111 to 108 for the East Coast team, gave a lifeline to that Jimmy Butler manage to win the title with the franchise. But now, at home, life doesn’t tend to get any easier for the franchise that won an NBA title, for the last time, in 2013.
The Nuggets roster is still superior than the Heat, with Denver being a slight favorite, even away from home. But now, Miami seems to have understood how to reduce the strength of Denver’s attack, letting Nikola Jokic play, but blocking one of the main pieces of the opponent: Jamal Murray. And with the defense acting in the zone, it is possible that the Serb continues to score well, but that now, away from home, he distributes fewer assists.
Playing away from Denver, Nikola Jokic has a lower assists average than when he plays at Ball Arena. And for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, this could be a differential, if the Heat’s double marking, which worked in the last game, continues to evolve and be a positive point for the team. But at the same time that Miami is trying to evolve its zone marking, the Nuggets arrive for the third game looking to break this type of blockage in the attack, something that did not happen in the last game and that they must learn from the mistake.
In this series, Nikola Jokic has been the most effective player. An impressive average of 34 points, 10.5 rebounds and 9 assists in the two games played so far. The Heat sought to prevent further damage by using well Bam Adebayo It is Cody Zeller, trying to take out other threats from the Nuggets. Mainly, putting Adebayo, too, in front of Jokic so that the Serb would have more difficulty in getting the ball. But to win the series, this will not be enough, since the Nuggets’ offense is very dynamic and the game volume options run organically and continue to work, even changing the pieces. And, after game 2, it is possible that we will no longer see the marking of zeller in Jokic for the ineffectiveness in practically all the acting time.
For Game 3, the Miami Heat must shoot a lot from 3. That’s because this was the main factor to win Game 2, as they hit 48.6% of their 3-point shots. And for the Denver Nuggets, who defensively did not perform well in the last game, a key factor will be to increase the pressure on those shots from the opponent. Especially because, offensively, the team continues to play good games in most playoff matches.
Yet, Duncan Robinson going to be a point of attention for the Denver Nuggets. That’s because the guard scored 10 points at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Totally different performance from game 1, where he did not appear throughout the game. In the playoffs, the Heat player has a 44% advantage and is one of the main factors that makes the Miami team catch fire at the end of the game to reduce the differences on the scoreboard.
As for the Nuggets, a factor to be observed will be the performance of michael porter jr, in Game 3. That’s because the center forward still hasn’t managed to play well in the NBA Finals series. His shooting average is at an irrelevant 29%. Number that collapses to 17.6% when we talk about 3-point shots. This, who had been the third best player on the team, alongside Jokic and Jamal Murray, did not appear and is looking to make his best performance so far, in Game 3, in Miami.
Now, you can follow the story of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets, on ESPN and on the Star+ streaming platform starting at 9:30 pm (Brasília time). Whoever wins, takes the lead in the series and arrives with an advantage for Game 4, which will also be in Miami.
Source: sportbuzz

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