By Daniel Paiz

Nikola Jokic put up 41 points and 11 assists tonight, but Denver came up short at home, losing 111-108 and the series is now tied 1-1. Jamal Murray had a quiet 18 points and 10 assists, while Aaron Gordon added 12 points. Miami had 21 points apiece from Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and 23 points from Gabe Vincent. Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami, as for now the Heat have home court advantage.

Both teams had some bench help tonight, but it was the pace of the game that led to this outcome.

Game 2 Recap

Miami has come out hitting, leading 10-2 at the 9-minute mark in the first. A stop and then a big corner three from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope seemed to give Denver some life. Calls seem to be going Miami’s way, which combined with the Heat hitting shots is making things difficult for the home team. Max Strus has 12 points in the first quarter, a big change from hitting nothing in Game 1. The Nuggets seem to have strung together a few stops, and the efforts of Bruce Brown and Christain Braun help rally Denver, as they trail 26-23 after one quarter.

A bucket from Braun and free throws from Jeff Green give Denver their first lead, 27-26, to start the second. This second unit with Aaron Gordon as the center has led to a rally, with the Nuggets up 39-29 at three minutes into the second. What makes this even better is these are non-Jokic minutes, which bodes well for Denver. 44-32 at the 7:49 mark, as Murray has hit several shots, and Denver’s bench is up to a combined 14 points right now. A 57-51 halftime lead is due to 20 Denver bench points, and Denver slightly shooting better and outrebounding the visitors. Jokic has 13 as the only Nugget in double digits.

The third is starting out like the first did, as Miami has tied it 64-64 three minutes in, largely due to buckets from Gabe Vincent and Adebayo. Both defenses have stepped up, and some questionable plays from both teams keeps it close halfway through the third, 71-66 Denver. Jokic has 31 points, 18 in the quarter as Denver holds the lead 83-75. So far, it’s felt like the benches have kept their teams in the game. Starters other than Jokic on both sides haven’t had outstanding performances.

85-83 as Miami has started to score again. For some reason when Jeff Green is guarding someone, he switches with Braun, which is leading to mismatches and good looks for the Heat. A timeout from Coach Michael Malone hopefully addresses this and coaches them to stop switching on the high pick that’s giving Miami a mismatch. They keep it up as the Heat have an 88-85 lead at the 9:30 mark.

Denver is in need of stops as they trail 98-93, they have to find a way to get the ball moving more. Just as they start to get the movement happening, visiting team takes a timeout. It’ll be interesting to see if Denver can dig in, get the needed stops and get some buckets. The effort feels like it isn’t there, despite slowly cutting the lead down as the clock keeps ticking. The home team tries, but comes up short as Miami wins 111-108, tying the series 1-1.

Keys to Game 3

Previous teams facing Denver have been fine with Nikola Jokic beating them with points if it meant he had fewer assists. The two-time MVP had four assists tonight, which is fairly out of character for the big man. What was also out of character was allowing the visiting team to set the pace for a bulk of the game in Ball Arena. The Heat prefer a methodical, burn up the clock and keep the game in the half-court style of play. That’s why this game felt like an uphill climb; even when Denver was ahead, the pace was dictated by Miami.

Denver had very little transition offense, and their inability to swing the momentum led to their first home loss this postseason. Michael Porter Jr. will need to get more involved as five points wasn’t enough, and it didn’t feel like he was making the same effort as Game 1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has to figure out his shot as well, as he had six points. 11 points from Brown, nine from Green and six from Braun were crucial in getting this thing close. The bench will need to make impact plays on Wednesday as well. The rebounding (shown below) will need to be there again, and the turnovers have to go down, because 13 of them will make it hard to win every time.

Miami is in a similar boat that the Nuggets were in after Game 1: make in-game adjustments and keep making it hard on Denver to pass the ball. Other bench players for the eight seed will need to step up, as Max Strus had 14 points, but Haywood Highsmith had zero. Caleb Martin was missing again, but Duncan Robinson chipped in 10 points. If Denver can take either Butler or Adebayo out scoring-wise, the Heat might be in trouble. Bench players tend to play better at home, so perhaps Martin and Kevin Love will have more of an impact. The Heat will also be hoping Vincent has a repeat performance. Denver will need to dictate the pace to retake home court advantage.