I’ll be the first to say that my review on this game won’t be as conclusive as I would like as I am not able to watch the games live, but there is enough out there to formulate a good opinion.
This game went pretty much as I expected, and the Nuggets were on pace after the first half to hit 120+ which is near where I put them averaging this series. They took off very quickly and Miami were just playing catch up the whole game. The pace that Denver can score the basketball is just too much for pretty much any team in the league, and Miami are going to struggle with that all series.
I originally said that I don’t think Miami will be able to score more than 110 a game, and last night Denver were awesome on defence, and held the Heat to 93. The only reason this game looks as close as it does, is down to a shooting slump in the second half for Denver, but coming out of this game it’s clear the Nuggets are more than 11 points better.
Jimmy Butler needs to get back to the Jimmy Buckets from the first and second series’ of these playoffs. Miami will not win a game with him scoring less than 15 points. On the flip side, Jokic made the game look easy averaging a triple-double – only the second player to ever do it in game one of the finals – and it had impact on the scoreboard. That paired with another awesome game from Jamal Murray meant the Nuggets weren’t being beaten.
Let’s hope game two attracts a better performance from Miami. I’m sticking with Denver in game two.