The Denver Nuggets drew first blood in the NBA Finals. Defending their fortress, the Ball Arena, Nikola Jokic and Co dictated the game. They got off to a hot start with the Joker captaining the troops. They limited Jimmy Butler, who gave an ECF MVP-worth performance against the Boston Celtics. Playing flawless basketball on both ends, they took the game 93-104.
After the contest, however, a few Miami Heat players revealed the ‘history’ they created tonight.
A Heat star baffles reporters after Game 1
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Nothing seemed to go Miami’s way tonight. Their offense couldn’t counter the Nuggets’ relentless attacks from various directions. Both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic chose phases to be aggressive and succeeded emphatically. Then there was the obvious slowing down of Jimmy Butler that crippled the Heat.
However, there was a major discrepancy that gave the home side a major edge in the game. The Heat could only go to the free throw line two times tonight, while Denver got 20. They shot 80% in those attempts, helping them to constantly dig the needle further into Miami. As Bam Adebayo sat in front of the reporters, this, as bound to be, became a topic of discussion. Speaking about the mass difference in free throws, the 25-year-old took a rather sarcastic approach.
“We made history,” he said to the room full of reporters.
“Only two free throws and they were my 2 free throws which is kind of interesting.” — Highsmith
“We made history.” — Bam pic.twitter.com/g5vmlcbtkO
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) June 2, 2023
When asked to comment on the officiating, however, Bam Adebayo’s response left everyone startled.
“If I say something, will you take the fine?” he cross-questioned the reporter.
“If I say something, will you take the fine?” — Bam to @joevardon when Joe asked about just 2 FTs pic.twitter.com/rvD2hcVeIz
— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) June 2, 2023
Despite the reporter agreeing to pay his fine, Adebayo chose to address the Heat’s mistakes instead of berating the referees, “We can’t even get into that. We can’t let them dictate the game. I just feel like we took a lot of jump shots. We missed a lot of them instead of getting to the basket.”?
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The Heat’s only free-throw attempts came in the second quarter. For the rest of the game, they couldn’t get to the line, or rather, they didn’t put themselves in the position to do so as Adebayo made clear. The Heat’s offense relies heavily on Jimmy Butler’s tempo. But when their most feared weapon could only score 13 points, they fell apart.
In Butler’s struggles, Adebayo took the responsibility on his shoulders scoring a team-high 26 points, while also grabbing 13 rebounds. The Vice City’s offense depended a lot on their perimeter shooting, with them shooting 39 – 12 more than the Nuggets. Erik Spoelstra and the Heat will most likely go back to the drawing board to figure out a more effective offense – a strategy to break through the Nuggets’ suffocating perimeter defense.
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WATCH THIS STORY:?Latest Miami Heat update may worry Nikola Jokic?s Denver.
Do you think the Heat sowed the seeds of their defeat or did they deserve more foul calls? Let us know in the comments below.