The Denver Nuggets finally have their NBA Finals opponent, setting the stage for a contest between an unstoppable force and a solid object.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have led the Nuggets offense to nearly 120 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs to date—better than the Sacramento Kings’ all-time regular season scoring and currently the most efficient postseason score attack by any team. it passed the conference semifinals.
If any opponent is going to stop them in the end, it’s the Miami Heat.
Behind the brilliance of Erik Spoelstra’s game planning and relentless, unyielding execution by his band of loyal soldiers, the Heat thwarted everyone from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Jalen Brunson to Jayson Tatum en route to their second Finals appearance in four years.
They play zone. They play human. They jump lanes and force turnover. They take you out of your comfort zone. Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent are body-sacrificing, ball-stripping vermin. Marksmen Max Strus and Duncan Robinson are anything but doormats on the defensive side due to their size and height, combining five blocks this postseason. Butler, when locked up, is as brave as any one-on-one defender on the planet. And of course there’s the man in the middle, Bam Adebayo, who has finished in the top five for Defensive Player of the Year in each of the past four seasons.
“When I talk about the competitive will of our team, we follow Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo,” said Spoelstra after the Heat’s devastating Game 6 loss in the last second to the Boston Celtics. “Their will is incredible. If you’re a basketball enthusiast, the aesthetic may not always be perfect, but you have to admire the competitive spirit of this group.”
Adebayo will likely be the first to come out on Jokic, though history has taught us that Miami won’t give him the same look more than a few times in a row. If you were designing a player in a lab to guard Jokic, it could be Adebayo — at least his size and strength can make Jokic’s post-up attempts difficult, while his speed and agility allow him to get over switch on guards and blow up Denver’s deadly dribble hand-off game.
Of course, we felt the same way about Anthony Davis, and everything Jokic did during the conference finals averaged 28 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 12 assists on 51/47/78 splits. The man is unstoppable, but it’s up to the Heat to make it as difficult as possible for him. Lakers.
“I give credit to our guys. They’re locked up. The energy was really good,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Monday. “We owe it to ourselves to make sure we prepare and condition and do everything at that pace and purpose that I mentioned.”
While Jokic wreaks havoc on the defense with his plodding, methodical destruction, Murray is a bull’s eye, capable of dealing massive damage from multiple angles in one fell swoop. He decimated the Lakers with 32.5 points, six rebounds and five assists per game on blistering 53/41/95 splits. Jokic may be the head of the serpent, but Murray is the venom that seeps menacingly from fangs and will fatally pierce your veins in an instant.
So while much of the focus – rightfully so – will be on how the Heat will stop Jokic, they’re going to have to be in tune with Murray just as much if they want a chance to stop the Nuggets’ profuse assault. in the NBA Finals.
“I would say even from the first round, his energy, he’s our best player since the first round, and he’s really moving forward,” Jokic said of Murray. “Even when he’s not taking shots, this, that – but his energy is always good. I think that’s the best feeling for the guys around him. You know, yeah, we know he can take shots, he can go for 50. But even when things don’t go his way, he doesn’t fall. He’s still playing. He’s still fighting. I think that’s the best thing about him right now.”