The Nuggets who have leaned heavily on their home record throughout the playoffs seemed complacent in game two letting their guard down and giving up an opportunity to go up 2-0 on the Miami Heat.
On Sunday night the Denver Nuggets hosted the Miami Heat and while the Nuggets shot selection in the first half was questionable the Miami Heat’s was not. Miami lived up to their name with five different players in double-digit figures by the end of the night.
Undrafted guard, Gabe Vincent lead all Miami scorers with 23 points followed by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The Nuggets on the other hand had four players in double-digit figures with two-time-MVP Nikola Jokic scoring 41 points. Jamal Murray followed Jokic with 18 points and Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown combining for a whopping 23 points.
A lot can be said about the Nuggets’ performance or lack thereof, but there’s no doubt that despite losing game two at it was a wakeup call, one that Coach Malone has been pounding into the heads of the team since going down 12 points in the first quarter in game two.
Despite Denver’s struggles in game two with poor shooting and a plethora of turnovers they still managed to bring Sunday’s game down to the wire with a misplaced three by Murray that ended the game.
This week the Nuggets are in Miami for games, three and four which will be played Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. and Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
While the Nuggets have never been one to use moral victories as a springboard, they have to be somewhat relieved that while up against probably their worst night shooting in the post-season they only lost by three.
Terrible shooting and poor ball management hasn’t been a staple in this team and we expect the Nuggets to perform at a level that will either split the series in Miami or come home with the lead. This trip to the Finals should be a lasting memory, not one fans want to forget.
In other sports the Colorado Rockies are 9.5 games behind the division-leading L.A. Dodgers and are struggling to get to .500. Colorado has only won two of their last seven games but managed to win two in a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals over the weekend.
This week the Rockies are at home to host the San Francisco Giants who have a 5.5 game lead on the Rockies and a 2.5 game lead on the San Diego Padres. The Rockies are currently in the basement of the NL West a spot they’ve been content with not as a team but as an organization.
With the Nuggets in their first finals, the Avalanche winning the Cup last season, the Broncos with a Super Bowl win in 2015 and the Colorado Mammoth in their second straight finals, the Rockies shot at the fall classic back in 2007 seems like such a distant memory that Rockies fans hope to see a shakeup that will bring pride to the boys of summer in Colorado soon.
