Sarah talks with NBA.com senior writer Shaun Powell about how Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets dominated the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. What Miami needs to do in Game 2 to have a shot in the series, and the possible return of Tyler Herro.
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Jolkic spoiling away puts it the first finals game in franchise history. Is a rousing success. Denver's nine and all and all of the playoffs. They take Game one.
Welcoming into NBA Pulse, a production of iHeartRadio in the NBA. I'm Sarahkustak, NBA analyst for the s Networking Today is Friday, June second. From our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot Com Senior writer Sean pal and Sean Game one, the Finals have begun in Denver took control with the score doesn't quite tell the story one O four to ninety three win, but it was dominant from start to finish. Nicolea Jokic ninth triple double of the playoffs, sixth in his last seven games. But it was a complete team effort from this Denver.
Teamic tomor Murray good luck for three puts.
It in Miami. It came out. Whether it was the fatigue of having just played and finishing off that tough seven game Eastern Conference final, but Bam out of Bayo was really the only one that had a stat line twenty six points, thirteen rebounds, five assists that was worthy of a Game one Finals appearance because the rest of the Miami Heat team they struggled. They shot a historic low of free throw attempts, just two free throw attempts on the game. But when you look at this one and Sean, you're out there, You're out there in Denver, up close and personal with this game. What jumped out to you about the Nuggets dominance here in this opener.
Well, you know you mentioned Nicola Yogis's triple double. It might have been one of the quietest triple doubles he's had during the playoffs because he really spent much of the game just passing the ball to teammates who hit shots on a.
Bayo right into jokic fins Mari Muri wine open.
That alone speaks volumes about where the Nuggets are versus where they've been the last couple of years. Last couple of years. Nikola Jokic is passing them all the guys who can't hit shots. You know, now Jamal Murray is hitting shots. Michael Porter Junior, Aaron Gordon was very aggressive offensively early in particular, and I think that really helped Jordan again.
Aggressively goes right into the page scores again, L Gordon's got corfield goals already. We played just over five minutes.
And you know, if you look at the Miami Heat, you know, yes, they played some ruling series to get here. They didn't really have much for res But it's not the altitude, Sarah, it's the Nuggets. I mean, they're a very good team, are a top seed. They didn't get there by mistake. They didn't come out of the West by mistake. This is a very well rounded team. It's not Nikola Jokic versus you know, a bunch of role players anymore. He has the confidence in his teammates. He gives them the ball, he set them up, and when they're rolling like that, the way they will roll the first three quarters of this game. This game, Yeah, they get a little sloppy at the end, but when they're rolling like that, it's I would think it's very, very difficult for Miami to win this series because it was that dominant. The other thing is, and you mentioned the historic low free throw shooting Number one, the starters did not attempt a single free thiw wow, and those two free throws came from bench players. Simply Miami just settled on to three point shots. They didn't fall. You know what did fall? Miami fell pretty pretty hard, pretty big thud. And what a way to open Game one of the NBA Finals.
And I think we've watched though playoff games long enough, playoff series long enough to know how much changes gamed game and you can't put too much stock in just one game. However, Denver is undefeated at home throughout the course of this postseason. They are the number one seed, and you mentioned it. Did Denver quite frankly didn't even shoot the three point shot that way well, but Miami took a lot of them, just over thirty three percent from the three point line, thirteen of thirty nine. What can Miami do? What do you anticipate as you get set for game two? You at least got two days in between here, when you know the conference final games were every other day, so not playing until Sunday evening. What can Miami look for in terms of trying to combat the way that Denver came out in particular to start this one.
I think the heat had to go into this game thinking, you know what, if we hit a couple of those three point shots, maybe it's different. They have to believe that. And all season long, this team has been able to adjust whenever they're in trouble. We've seen it throughout the playoff series, even when Boston came back and tied that the Eastern Conference Finals three to three. You saw the way Miami responded a Game seven in Boston, and I just think that that's just tremendous. That's why you don't really count as team out. I mean, it's well coached by Eric Spolster, and Spolster I think is the X factor from Miami because he's been able to adjust and you've been able to find ways to put his players in position to succeed. However, having said that, I think his leash is going to be pretty short. If Max Strews comes out, the guy was you know, zero for ten. If he comes out and he starts hitting some more you know, air balls, does he go with? You know, Heyward Heismith, who by the way, looked pretty good in the fourth quarter and he kind of helped to comeback. Eric Spolster is not afraid to sit players. You know, you saw that with Duncan Robinson. He sat him pretty much all season. You know, this is a guy who signed a big contract. He doesn't care. He wants to put players on the floor who are going to produce. This is the NBA Final Finals. Your margin for error now now is very slim, particularly against another top seed. And that's the other thing you have to concern yourself if you're Miami, is Denver one top team too many. You know, you've got through Milwaukee, you've got through the Knicks, you got through the Boston Celtics, and you didn't have home court advantage in any of those series. Now, all of a sudden, you come to Denver, the top seed in the West, a team that's been unbeaten at home. I mean, sometimes, you know, you reach the end of the road, you know, you push your team as far as it can go. And I'm not saying that that's definitely going to happen, and that's definitely the case in Miami heat right now. But you know, you go through those grueling series that they went to, you go to the NBA Finals against some refreshed Denver team, confident Denver team. You know, I don't know, We'll see what happens in the next game. I will refrain from saying this series is over because I've seen Eric Spolster in that coaching staff, and I've seen Jimmy Butler, and I've seen this team respond in the past. But Game two obviously is very crucial. They have to win one game in Denver in order to win this series, and I think they have to show up in the game two.
What about Jimmy Butler. You mentioned, Hey what high Smith comes away with eighteen points? He was the one Miami Heat player they got himself to the free throw line. I think one of the more surprising individuals not at the line is Jimmy Butler. He's someone who normally finds production there, not a player. We've seen him throughout the course of this postseason. He's been extraordinary, but he's not a player that forces anything, reads a defense, patient, poised, deliberate in how he's able to attack and impose his will. But do you anticipate him in Game two being more aggressive and potentially having a larger imprint similar to what we saw early on in this postseason?
You know, Sarah, I think you described Jimmy Butler perfectly. I mean, he's very patient, he plays under control, and Jimmy Butler is very much a team player. He's kind of like Yogic in that regard. He wants to get his teammates involved, particularly get him involved early so they get their confidence. Throw them the ball, make sure they get their shots. Jimmy Butler is not going to be a player who's going to come out and aiming to shoot thirty forty times. That's just not in his that's not his bag, you know. And it's very important for him to get his teammates involved and get them confident. So when the fourth quarter rolls around, yeah, he can take over. But if he's not taking over the fourth quarter, they're still rolling. They still have the confidence to make those shots. Having said all that, as I said before, the margin for error now is a little bit short. And I think Jimmy Butler can read the room, and I think he knows right now that, yeah, you know what, maybe I have to come out maybe a little bit more aggressive. And if I'm aggressive and suddenly I'm double teamed. Now these guys are open and maybe they can hit those shots. And by the way, Aaron Gordon, the guy who's assigned with guarding Jimmy Butler, look at the path that he's been on through these playoffs, He started out in the first round against Carl Anthony Towns, giving away what about four or five inches there. Then he goes up against Kevin Durant. Okay, we know who Kadie is. And then the next round Lebron James. I mean, just think about his defensive assignments in this postseason and now he's got Jimmy Butler. So Aaron Gordon is not scared. There, he ain't scared. He's going to be up for the challenge. But again, we've seen a lot of very good to great games by Jimmy Butler in this postseason. I think he and sposed they're going to have a conversation between now and the start of Game two, and I think he might see a little bit more of aggressive and assert of Jimmy Butler at the start of Game two.
Yeah, on the flip side of things, let's get back to Nicola Jokic. He was tremendous, as I said, his ninth triple double of this playoff set's all time all time leader in a single postseason, four triple doubles, six in his last seven games. He became just a second player to record a triple double in their finals debut joining Jason Kidd. How masterful does he continue to be in your eyes in ways in which he You know, the numbers speak for themselves, but when you're watching it, it's the numbers, it's the eye test, it's everything. He he just really seems unstoppable.
I'm gonna pay him the highest compliment by saying, I'm like, you know, I'm not surprised. You know, we think about it. Guy gets triple double here and there and everything. You're like, oh, wow, that's pretty good. But to me, it's kind of routine, Sarah. I mean, it doesn't blow me away anymore, and it should. It should. You can't take a player like him, for granted, a guy who's you know, seven foot tall and he's throwing these one handed water prolo passes, bounce past his pocket passes, finding guys.
Yo.
Kincher comes to double team, spins away, finds Brown wide open, Bruce Brown down.
We've really, i mean, at least this generation, we've really never seen anyone like him. You can go back to our Beatus Cibotus uh, you know the former great Soviet players. Obviously you know his his son Demontes cebotis the Sacramento Kings, but you know, Sabonis was a little bit like that, particularly before his knees really gave way. By the time Sabonis came into the NBA played for the Portland Trailblazers, he wasn't the player he was on international level, but he was still a great passer. And also you can go back even a little bit further and talk about Bill Walton, the MVP of the World champion nineteen seventy seven Portland Trailblazers. The offense ran through him, okay, and he played the high post pretty much the way Jokic is, and he was able to control a game piece of pick a game apart with his passing that way. But of course I'm only enlightening people who are like sixty and seventy years old who can remember those two players. Let's talk about the generation here and now and what they're seeing from Nicola Jokic. I mean, it's just really really amazing to watch. He's had a fantastic postseason run. You can even make the argument over the last three years he's been the best player in the NBA, certainly from the MVP count. He won two of them and finish runner up in the third and so this is just a continuation of what we've seen from him. The difference is, Sarah, he has better, healthier teammates and better teammates around him in order to rack up those assists. When he's passing the ball, those guys are making.
The shot making the shots, and that's something Miami is gonna need to do more of. We are going to take a break, but gets us some Game two predictions and some potential firepower coming back for the Heat. Welcome back to NBA Pulse, Sarahustak joined by the great Sean Pyle and uh Sean Game two. Uh, he's gonna need a lot more from Miami in Denver and just what they had shown in that first opening game. But it was reported prior to the game uh, the Tyler Hero could come back in Game two for the Miami Heat. First, I want to ask you about that. What difference do you think that could make given the amount of time that Hero has been off and obviously what he could add to this team in terms of what they could use after seeing the way that they played Denver there in Game one.
Well, you know one reason why I want to see him and uniform is out. I keep watching his his bench attire. You know, in these games he's got the muscle shirt on. I'm not sure he had a much muscle definition. No offense here. You're a shooter, not a weightlifter. And you know he's got the big hats and he's looking at Look, nobody wants to see Tally Hero on the floor more than Tally Hero. The guy's a competitor, guy's a baller, sir. He wants to play. H if he could play, he would play. Uh And you know, look, yeah, there's a couple of games in between. There's a couple of days in between these games. These games he could he's ramping up his basketball activity. We all know what type of player he is. But you know, to get hurt and the opening game of the postseason and then sit for multiple weeks and then come back in the NBA Finals of all places, and to be able to come in and have an impact. Look, I love Tyller Hero as a player, but I would say even for players better than Tylly Hero, that's quite the challenge. To be able to get that rhythm back, you get that pop, you know, with the ball off the fingers, be able to play defense defense after missing that much time. That would be a steep challenge. I'm rooting for it, Sarah, because I want to see both teams at full health. Who doesn't. I don't want to see see Denver have any excuses, not that they need excuses of their top top seed coming out of the West, but I like to see teams at full strength. I like to see what Denver can do against a Miami Heat team with Tyler Hero. Let's just say, for argument's sake, he does come back in this series and he's effective. Well, you know, obviously, that's just one more weapon that Miami has, one more teammate for Jimmy Butler. He can throw the ball to with confidence, and all of a sudden, if the Miami Heat is settling for three point shots and hitting him, you have Tally Hero on the floor who can probably solve that situation. So I'm rooting for him. I want to see him in uniform next time. He's wearing something sleeveless. Let's hope it's a jersey and not a T shirt on a bench.
Sean, before we go, who do you have? Who's your pick for Game two?
I'm going to go with Denver again. I suspect it's going to be a lot closer through the first three quarters. I can probably see basically a reversal closer for three quarters and then Denver pulling away at the end. Again, this is a team that's undefeated at home, and I think that atmosphere in Denver is electric. I think the fans sent something from a team making its first trip to the NBA Finals obviously don't have an NBA championship. I think the fans sense that something special was happening. I see Denver going up two oh and this series going back to Miami.
All right, well, we will see what happens on Sunday apm Eastern on ABC. We will continue to watch and read all your stuff Sean on NBA, and enjoy your time there in Denver. We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks, Eric, appreciate it.
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