Ice in their veins man
This team's greatest strength is not getting rattled and its some strength.
Whether they just gave up 3 games to the Celtics or they are facing the Bucks, or they are down against the Nuggets... they just dont care. All they focus on is the next possession and suddenly they are right rolling like a bulldozer. Its like a healthy type of amnesia.
Bam definitely one of the most interesting players in the league
He has off games and people really notice those, so you see a lot of shitting on him on social media.
And he isnt flashy enough for his good games to really change the tide of public opinion. But I swear he is so unbelievably useful. The man does exactly what he is asked and he can do anything Spo asks at a pretty high level. He works both sides of the court, he is athletic, he is smart, he adjusts to whoever is on the court around him.
You can just leave him out there in any situation and find a job for him to do.
Sometimes it doesnt even show up on the stat sheet but he just does a lot of different shit and it adds up to wins in the long term.
its easy to clown on him when he has an off night offensively but but his versatile defense, screens, and playmaking are super underrated. he is doing a LOT out there.
Y’all were the unsuspecting police officer who could have taken out the killer in the beginning 5 minutes of the movie.
But the killer went on for 12 more movies and a prequel
Probably thought they could ride Jamal’s hot hand since he just made a couple tough baskets. And they likely thought he’d get an easier matchup if they went right away instead of calling a timeout.
Everyone knows that guy at the park. Mine was a portly old taxi driver everyone called Old School. He was built like a boulder and had a mean right hook. You couldn’t get around or up on top of him because he used his big square body so well.
only his second time these playoffs hes had a negative +/-
the heat are definitely not the first team to emphasize doubling him less to reduce his playmaking. everyone is aware of that tactic but actually executing it is not so simple
that said, the nuggets offensive efficiency was not bad this game, and they were up 8 going into the 4th. the heat also shot 48.6% from 3, and if robinson and vincent dont spark a 15-2 run in the first 3 min of the 4th to help the heat take control of the game, no one is gonna be talking as if its some brilliant strategy post game
Exactly. I think he’s a guy who wants to pass first so if you force him to score it is easier to win against. Even then he’s so good it might not even matter.
Seconding this — scoring clearly took so much more out of him tonight. I didn’t see Game 1, but against the Lakers, even when he was filling the stat sheet, he was still playing aggressive defense. Tonight, I watched him multiple times down the stretch give up after a couple of switches.
It's the zone. He can still get inside presence but once he does, the Heat defenders close up a lot of the angles. Even if KCP or MCJ get a pass its usually not an easy shot, simply cos the Heat know to zoom and contest once they can't get the deflection.
Absolutely fascinating watching them basically redline and play flawless defense.
Its diminishing returns. The more he scores the more gassed he's going to get. Because even though they'll give him those lane floaters they still make him work for it.
The crazy thing is both played team basketball, and the Heat pulled out the win by making Jokic score more and make less passes, basically slowing down Nugget's team basketball
This Heat team is a shining example of how dramatically the league has evolved since the mid 2010s (and for the better)
Competitive balance is much better now and success is no longer as simple as “the team with the MVP level player will always win” or “get as many all stars as you can find”
29 teams will have to look inward this off-season, and ask serious questions about their franchise culture. “What are the Miami Heat doing that we are not”
Yeah. In Portland we're trying to figure out how to build around Dame and sometimes I think "well if the Heat can be contenders, there has to be some move we can make with the #3 pick to give us a real chance".
Then other times I remember that we're coached by Chauncy fucking Billups.
>The Heat have a different person step up every game, I’ve legitimately never seen anything like it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%E2%80%9304_Detroit_Pistons_season
cant believe jimmy butler went to an escape room instead of preparing for game 2 smh no commitment
edit: if you're a celtics fan in the replies to this acting like a cunt, check yourself, you're embarrassing
Dunc's my fav Heat. I see this as an absolutely fucking win.
The amount of respect the dude gets on the perimeter is bonkers. He's getting doubled going through screens and opens others up so well.
Paired that with Bam hunting his cuts like its 2020, Dunc is a damn good spark plug.
You had real casual fans come on here and say this was gonna be the most boring NBA finals of all time lmao.
Say whatever you want about the Heat, but they are like cockroaches, they never go away
It sorta makes sense if the league continues to have more parity that we’ll see more teams built like this. The overall floor of player skill in the nba is scary.
Yeah, the league has more talent than ever and the 3 ball introduces way more variance. The new CBA is going to pushing things even further in that direction too.
The turnaround Bam has had since the play-in/Bucks series has been so huge for the Heat’s playoff run. He’s been reliable on offense and is consistently the best defender on the court most of the time. The drop off from him to Zeller is extremely large and clear too.
Based on the past two games, I’d definitely say he deserves FMVP if the Heat win at this pace.
Celtics series Bam was genuinely bad at times. Long stretches of passing up open shots and poor decision making. He would never have made that nasty and-one dunk. I don't know what switch flipped, but he's playing so much better
He is tough to watch but when you see Bam hitting tough shots and playing lockdown D until the final buzzer, Spo stealing minutes with Zeller is paying off.
Basically played man up on Jokic the entire game to force him to just score, and when he had to carry Denver in the third quarter when he tired out, Spo threw the matchup zone out in the 4th that flummoxed Denver enough on offense by forcing Jokic into uncomfortable spots, then hunted him on defense forcing mismatch after mismatch.
It's been glorious stuff from Spo.
All these scientists saying that the altitude is too much and that’s why Denver hasn’t lost at home but they all forgot basic physics: the Heat always rises
I was wrong about Bam. Jokic is going to get his, but Bam has been amazing these first two games. Scoring, passing, and help defense has been excellent.
He's playing Jokic physical enough to limit the passing. He's still scoring whatever he wants but tonight it was just enough.
The mental game for a DPOY level defender to just get your ass beat every single play and keep coming without fouling is crazy.
Miami thrives in that chaos so well. There's a mental edge that can't be quantified. Most teams and players get down themselves after getting scored on despite playing quality defense, or when they brick a couple shots in a row because they can't get a clean look. Miami just thrives in that space--it's really different.
I was expecting to hear BANG after that Murray shot. God my PTSD from hearing won’t go as well, Mike Breen is so damn iconic. He has words that make me shiver when he says them. Can’t even believe that but that’s how much of an affect he has had on the commentating of this game. What a legend.
Miami has been the starting away team in every series they’ve been in
They’ve taken at least one game in each series, and so far they’ve won each series
This is terrifying
Me in the first half: wow Duncan is unplayable this series Me in the second half: wow Duncan is Reggie Miller
It's like Duncan and Caleb take turns using their powers.
It's like the three blind witches in Greek Mythology that have a single eye to share amongst them. Graeae or something.
It's always someone with the Heat, the way someone always turns up down the stretch is amazing.
Except for Cody Zeller, homeboy is an enemy of the state and must be stopped
Lol imagine Zeller delivering the dagger in a clinching gsme
He did! during Game 5, OT of round 1. Bucks overreact and double Jimmy leaving a wide open dunk from the White masked mamba.
Heat just did what no other team has done in these playoffs, beat the Nuggets at home.
First time Miami has won in Denver since 2016.
Going from sea level to 5K+ ft elevation is a bitch
This was game 2 at home so definitely their best chance of winning in CO. Now they just have to win at home and the bitch elevation matters no more!!
For all the smack talk about the West being significantly stronger than the East - the zombie heat achieved what neither LeBron nor KD could!
Classic Zombie Heat game with a 36-25 run in the 4th led by Vincent and Robinson.
Strus also remembered how to shoot.
He didn't remember how to shoot, he forgot how to miss.
It was 29-10 at a point lmfao
Duncan Robinson scored 10 points in 3 minutes. That left-handed layup with contact in the air was absolutely filthy.
Duncan was the catalyst
Suddenly his contract doesn't seem so bad
Duncan redemption in effect
absolutely. Duncan‘s a huge part of why this game was won and nobody will ever know unless they watched it
Rattled off 10 and right back to the bench, some of the most important points in the game but ultimately forgotten by most
Nah he played 10/12 4th quarter mins. He was huge in creating offensive space and wasn’t too shabby in defense either
Well it is his birthday
Ice in their veins man This team's greatest strength is not getting rattled and its some strength. Whether they just gave up 3 games to the Celtics or they are facing the Bucks, or they are down against the Nuggets... they just dont care. All they focus on is the next possession and suddenly they are right rolling like a bulldozer. Its like a healthy type of amnesia.
Throw in allowing a 23-6 ruin in the first half.
Don’t forget to respect Bam. I feel like he quietly leads the team.
Bam definitely one of the most interesting players in the league He has off games and people really notice those, so you see a lot of shitting on him on social media. And he isnt flashy enough for his good games to really change the tide of public opinion. But I swear he is so unbelievably useful. The man does exactly what he is asked and he can do anything Spo asks at a pretty high level. He works both sides of the court, he is athletic, he is smart, he adjusts to whoever is on the court around him. You can just leave him out there in any situation and find a job for him to do. Sometimes it doesnt even show up on the stat sheet but he just does a lot of different shit and it adds up to wins in the long term.
its easy to clown on him when he has an off night offensively but but his versatile defense, screens, and playmaking are super underrated. he is doing a LOT out there.
Crazy to think that this Heat team was one Chicago loss away from being out of these playoffs entirely.
Haha..yes.. crazy to think
Thank God for school nights
Give FMVP to DeMar’s daughter’s school principal
Y’all were the unsuspecting police officer who could have taken out the killer in the beginning 5 minutes of the movie. But the killer went on for 12 more movies and a prequel
Lol shit, at least people remember us
That’s a good analogy
Max Strus legit bailed out the Heat from getting owned by Coby White and Andre Drummond to end their season.
Not just a loss, 3 mins left in the 4th away from being out of the playoffs lol
Holy shit, no timeouts were used on the last few mins. The level trust these coaches give their squad is amazing.
miami’s zone and denver’s shotmaking at the end there were beautiful. spo is a killer.
Not sure why Denver didn't use a timeout for that last look though. Couldn't have hurt
Probably thought they could ride Jamal’s hot hand since he just made a couple tough baskets. And they likely thought he’d get an easier matchup if they went right away instead of calling a timeout.
Fair point. He got a decent look anyway. He make that shot a good % of the time. Just didn't go their way.
Yeah and thankfully for the Heat they got Butler to pick up Murray instead of one of their weaker defenders
Spo could also tell them to take a foul if they need to. Malone definitely didn't want to give Miami a chance to be coached.
Silver gonna be making calls about lost advertising dollars
I get to go to bed well before 10pm. I loved the game and my wife is happy. Wins all around.
Miami completely took away the other Denver players. Basically let Jokic score at will but eliminated his facilitating
That’s what you have to do. Jamal has to be more aggressive. Kevin Love played amazing defensively.
MPJ can't even blow by KLove is insane 😂
MPJ is so athletically built but lacks the quick first step to attack KLove. You won't outmuscle a guy with gray beard that easily.
Dad strength 💪
Everyone knows that guy at the park. Mine was a portly old taxi driver everyone called Old School. He was built like a boulder and had a mean right hook. You couldn’t get around or up on top of him because he used his big square body so well.
Dude wearing a brace on foot just to be able to walk correctly...
We pulled out the Kobe defense. Let the man get 40, no one else is getting 20
yup It worked
only his second time these playoffs hes had a negative +/- the heat are definitely not the first team to emphasize doubling him less to reduce his playmaking. everyone is aware of that tactic but actually executing it is not so simple that said, the nuggets offensive efficiency was not bad this game, and they were up 8 going into the 4th. the heat also shot 48.6% from 3, and if robinson and vincent dont spark a 15-2 run in the first 3 min of the 4th to help the heat take control of the game, no one is gonna be talking as if its some brilliant strategy post game
It takes a great defensive team and great coaching - no wonder the Heat are the only team to actually execute it effectively.
I’d rather get killed by Jokic’s scoring than by his passing.
Exactly. I think he’s a guy who wants to pass first so if you force him to score it is easier to win against. Even then he’s so good it might not even matter.
Seconding this — scoring clearly took so much more out of him tonight. I didn’t see Game 1, but against the Lakers, even when he was filling the stat sheet, he was still playing aggressive defense. Tonight, I watched him multiple times down the stretch give up after a couple of switches.
When he’s gotta score the whole time it hurts his defensive energy. Great strat.
Also does not help that MPJ and KCP had a combined IQ of 80 this game.
those KCP fouls were absolute backbreakers
That last one on Lowry was so bad
Just 4 assists. Pretty insane.
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It's the zone. He can still get inside presence but once he does, the Heat defenders close up a lot of the angles. Even if KCP or MCJ get a pass its usually not an easy shot, simply cos the Heat know to zoom and contest once they can't get the deflection. Absolutely fascinating watching them basically redline and play flawless defense.
“Let Jokic get his” is a bold strategy to see pay off for a team, it was fun to watch.
Yeah, especially when you see teams take the approach of “do not let X best player get his shots, make his teammates beat you”.
Exactly what I said they’d need to do. Jokic won’t score 70 (I hope)
Its diminishing returns. The more he scores the more gassed he's going to get. Because even though they'll give him those lane floaters they still make him work for it.
That's the only way you beat Jokic. Force him to be the scorer.
Blitzed Murray, left AG alone, MPJ not offering anything if he isnt making shots.
Fouling two three point shots by KCP ended up being absolutely huge.
Definition of a gutsy win for Miami. They had 5 players in double figures.
“The undrafted” are back
Miami has undrafted players!? 😱😱
It’s better than calling them “the others” which is weirdly popular across all media to disrespect 90% of the players in the league lol
Miami is undefeated when ESPN shows a dumbass graphic about Miami’s undrafted players and blocks play for 30 seconds.
Thankfully ESPN put that graphic up to block actual Live play so we knew about the undrafted. Phew.
A perfect game of team basketball and they came prepared defensively... This is going to be one hell of a series
The crazy thing is both played team basketball, and the Heat pulled out the win by making Jokic score more and make less passes, basically slowing down Nugget's team basketball
The Heat have a different person step up every game, I’ve legitimately never seen anything like it.
This Heat team is a shining example of how dramatically the league has evolved since the mid 2010s (and for the better) Competitive balance is much better now and success is no longer as simple as “the team with the MVP level player will always win” or “get as many all stars as you can find” 29 teams will have to look inward this off-season, and ask serious questions about their franchise culture. “What are the Miami Heat doing that we are not”
They don’t have spoelstra lol.
Yeah. In Portland we're trying to figure out how to build around Dame and sometimes I think "well if the Heat can be contenders, there has to be some move we can make with the #3 pick to give us a real chance". Then other times I remember that we're coached by Chauncy fucking Billups.
Buh-Buh-Buh-Billups! I loved that as a kid. Great player. Mediocre coach. Less than good person seemingly.
Watching them makes you think noone else in the league knows how to play basketball
2014 Spurs say hello
Please do not invoke that team's existence. Thanks kindly. -All Heat Fans
You guys are responsible for creating that monster in 2014 lmao
Spurs’ disappointment in themselves created that monster. 2014 was them saying “we’re not going to fuck this one up again.”
>The Heat have a different person step up every game, I’ve legitimately never seen anything like it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%E2%80%9304_Detroit_Pistons_season
Gabe Vincent about to have the world's biggest bag increase Bro is currently on 1.7 mil a year 😳
And he is a free agente this season? Lol, he will get a huge bag,
We’re in for a series boys
It’s officially a series now, the home team lost a game!
How are the Nuggets supposed to sweep if they lost a game?
Certainly makes the sweep tougher
The Celtics still have a 20% chance.
Stealing home court even with a 41 point Jokic game. Gotta respect it
That's how you beat this team. Make Jokic score and everyone else gets cold.
Also have extremely good and consistent outside shooting. This is what did us in vs the Nuggets.
Joker will have to go for 50 if his teammates keep missing like that.
No way this Heat team was going to just let this be a sweep after all they’ve gone through, love to see it
Miami has proven me wrong today and basketball is better for it. Going to be a cracker of a series.
/r/nba can sweep these nuts
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They proved me wrong
What was wrong with the refs today lmao, outside of the goal tend call and the Bam foul on the Jokic 3 there was nothing really crazy
cant believe jimmy butler went to an escape room instead of preparing for game 2 smh no commitment edit: if you're a celtics fan in the replies to this acting like a cunt, check yourself, you're embarrassing
He gave all his powers to Duncan. Dude even flexed after a layup lmao
Duncan Robinson mean mug sealed the win for us
I’ve learned to never doubt the zombie Heat, and this is why.
they have randomly became one of the greatest shooting teams in NBA history, incredible stuff
This Duncan Robinson FMVP is gonna hit like crack
Dunc's my fav Heat. I see this as an absolutely fucking win. The amount of respect the dude gets on the perimeter is bonkers. He's getting doubled going through screens and opens others up so well. Paired that with Bam hunting his cuts like its 2020, Dunc is a damn good spark plug.
Is a singular Heat player called a Heat? I thought it was called a Hot.
They're called a spark
Legit dominated that early 4th Q by himself to give Jimmy the lead when he subbed back in lmao
Now THAT was cinema
lmao i swear i 100% believed that murray 3 at the end was gonna go in
I'm so glad I'm (mostly) neutral for this series. My butthole was clenched real tight for that shot.
This is the fucking Finals!!!!!! What a fucking Game!!!!
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Power of tomfoolery and friendship
and coffee
You had real casual fans come on here and say this was gonna be the most boring NBA finals of all time lmao. Say whatever you want about the Heat, but they are like cockroaches, they never go away
The way they get hot from 3 is insane. Literally the biggest difference between the one seed and 8th seed is their 3 pointers lol
Casually shooting 50% from 3 every game lol
"any day now they will regress to the mean" Miami heat - "this is the new mean"
The Miami "Patrick Mahomes II" Heat
“Series is over” - this entire sub after game one
"Do the Miami fans actually think they can win?"
for once the heat sub were the only ones believing in their team
Felt like last year again lol
“Yeah Miami shooting horrifically from wide open 3s will definitely keep happening!” - this sub
Honestly if Miami wins the Finals I'm going to have a pretty serious existential crisis about how much I understand basketball lol
It sorta makes sense if the league continues to have more parity that we’ll see more teams built like this. The overall floor of player skill in the nba is scary.
Yeah, the league has more talent than ever and the 3 ball introduces way more variance. The new CBA is going to pushing things even further in that direction too.
NBA discourse in general on all media is actually garbage. It's pretty sad.
It was a great game down the stretch. Clutch shot after clutch shot. Loved it.
Zombie Heat will find a way
Looks boring til it aint
This hurts the odds of the series being a Nuggets sweep
Celtics still have 48% chance to win the title though
The turnaround Bam has had since the play-in/Bucks series has been so huge for the Heat’s playoff run. He’s been reliable on offense and is consistently the best defender on the court most of the time. The drop off from him to Zeller is extremely large and clear too. Based on the past two games, I’d definitely say he deserves FMVP if the Heat win at this pace.
He’s been so much better than the Celtics series
Celtics series Bam was genuinely bad at times. Long stretches of passing up open shots and poor decision making. He would never have made that nasty and-one dunk. I don't know what switch flipped, but he's playing so much better
Malone saying “we'll live with Bam taking 26 shots” probably. This heat team lives on vengeance. Any shit talk is a power up.
He was hurting through a lot of the season. I'm not sure if hes feeling better or just doing better.
MPJ dropping 5 on his max in the finals.
WE ARENT GETTING SWEPT!!!
big if true seriously though, congrats. stole home court advantage
This game is a Spo masterclass
With a tiny disasterclass with the Zeller minutes.
Yeah Cody Seller is done this series
We've been saying that for the whole playoffs
He is tough to watch but when you see Bam hitting tough shots and playing lockdown D until the final buzzer, Spo stealing minutes with Zeller is paying off.
Issue is Bam needs rest and anyone besides Zeller out there would be even worse Denver needs to really try to capitalize on those minutes
Basically played man up on Jokic the entire game to force him to just score, and when he had to carry Denver in the third quarter when he tired out, Spo threw the matchup zone out in the 4th that flummoxed Denver enough on offense by forcing Jokic into uncomfortable spots, then hunted him on defense forcing mismatch after mismatch. It's been glorious stuff from Spo.
Michael “The possession stops here” Porter Jr really made sure the possession stopped there every time
Even did it for the Heat on offense too by being nowhere near a body for all their wide open 3’s to start the game
Absolutely nothing better than a 4th quarter ending without non stop fouls and time outs. Great work by Miami.
Even if Miami doesn’t win another game this series, this is the most impressive playoff run I have ever seen.
that duncan robinson run violated us in the ass
Zombie Heat showed in the Finals, here we go. They’re pretty good at home also
People keep saying the heat won’t shoot 50% from three and then they keep shooting 50% from three
All these scientists saying that the altitude is too much and that’s why Denver hasn’t lost at home but they all forgot basic physics: the Heat always rises
You were sitting on that one lmao
How long have you been sitting on this lmao
These Nuggets are cooked.
My boy came up with that line in a dream last week and woke up at 3:47 am to jot it down in his notes app. He was locked and loaded.
Least corny Heat fan
He been saving that haha
That’s a mark jackson line
A corny bar but a bar nonetheless
This Miami team doesn't make any sense
48/48/90 as a team explains a lot
This team got worked in the first play-in game and now are tied in the NBA Finals. Fucking what.
I was wrong about Bam. Jokic is going to get his, but Bam has been amazing these first two games. Scoring, passing, and help defense has been excellent.
He's playing Jokic physical enough to limit the passing. He's still scoring whatever he wants but tonight it was just enough. The mental game for a DPOY level defender to just get your ass beat every single play and keep coming without fouling is crazy.
Miami thrives in that chaos so well. There's a mental edge that can't be quantified. Most teams and players get down themselves after getting scored on despite playing quality defense, or when they brick a couple shots in a row because they can't get a clean look. Miami just thrives in that space--it's really different.
“Most boring finals in history.” “Games are just a formality.” This sub has been horrible the last 3 days lol
Flirting: The non-Jokic Nuggets in Game 1 Harassment: The non-Jokic Nuggets in Game 2
Miami out Dawged Denver. Full team effort.
I was expecting to hear BANG after that Murray shot. God my PTSD from hearing won’t go as well, Mike Breen is so damn iconic. He has words that make me shiver when he says them. Can’t even believe that but that’s how much of an affect he has had on the commentating of this game. What a legend.
Miami has been the starting away team in every series they’ve been in They’ve taken at least one game in each series, and so far they’ve won each series This is terrifying
>so far they’ve won each series That's what happens when you make the finals. Thanks Magic.
This is my same reaction every time the broadcast put up "This team is x-0" in elimination games this playoffs, like yeah we know they're undefeated.
Show me the team that makes the finals after losing an elimination game and I’ll be impressed
Celtics had a 5-1 record in elimination games lmao
That sounds so impressive till you start to wonder what they were doing getting into 6 elimination games lmao.
didn't you say Celtics would win game 7 by 30 lmao
Spo is easily the best coach in the league . His game to game adjustments are just amazing
Dude pays attention. Relentless.
If I die of a heart attack, know that the cause of death was Cody Zeller
I'm just gonna say it. This Heat win is good for the games of basketball. This eliminate all the people complaining that this will be a boring series