NBA Finals: Nuggets' 4th-quarter woes open door for Heat's opportunistic offense

MIAMI — The Nuggets insist they’re not shook, even though their post-Game 2 body language and comments suggested a level of shock they actually blew a game on their home floor.

Perhaps it’s the stakes, and giving up home-court advantage for the first time in these playoffs, or maybe they violated rule No. 4, getting high off their own supply in the extended days between the first two games of the NBA Finals.

But something’s amiss here, especially in the fourth quarters of these games. Being outscored 66-45 in the last 12 minutes of two games should be cause for concern.

“The Miami Heat are dominating the fourth quarter,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “They’re averaging 33 points a game in the fourth quarter, shooting over 60% from the field in the fourth quarter and over 50% from 3.

“We’re up 8 going into the fourth quarter in Game 2. You’re up 21 going into the fourth quarter of Game 1. They end up on a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter to take control of that game.”

It’s a critical time where Nikola Jokić is sitting for his usual rest, and an inflection point for Erik Spoelstra and the Heat. The circumstances have been different, of course, with Malone mentioning the Nuggets in blow-out mode in Game 1 while being in a dog fight on Sunday night.

There’s no reason to suggest the Nuggets have been anything other than serious through these entire playoffs, so perhaps they were simply caught slipping in Game 2. Or maybe, they just got a little cute with the game.

But don’t dare mention the “C” word — one Jamal Murray wanted to make sure wasn’t used. No, nobody’s saying the Nuggets are choking here.

“Tightness like what?” he repeated back when asked about playing indecisively. “No. Well, if you watch the first quarter, first three minutes of the first quarter last game, it was all our mistakes. If they go small-small, we didn’t switch it and led to an open 3.

“I think it happened twice. They got two 3s, and then I think Gabe [Vincent] hit a pull-up between me and KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope] and we didn’t switch. Those are all our mistakes. Those are all our doings.”

He’s technically correct with the minutia. A lot of times coaches have been known to use that to mask the macro issues, pointing at various miscommunications or simple breakdowns that lead to results.

Almost a basketball filibuster, if you will.

Murray intimated the film session and trip to Jeff Green’s house in Florida for a team dinner was enough to get the bad taste from their mouths following Game 2, expecting to see his team return to form on Wednesday.

The Heat certainly have an awareness of how they want to play for the full 48 minutes, especially in the fourth quarter. Of all the teams in these playoffs, the Heat play truer to their character than anyone — not a statement on a particular outcome, but there’s a fluctuation you don’t see with them from night to night, performance-wise.

Denver wants to play fast, and the Nuggets have seduced Phoenix and the Lakers into playing that style. The Heat want to grind it out, and so far they’ve dictated the terms — with the Nuggets being unable to up the pace.

The Heat play opportunistic offense, and in Game 2, it was clinical execution.

They’ll make shots or miss them, but that’s the nature of the way they play with their personnel. Denver, up until this point, rebounded from those lapses in-game to make credible finishes possible — walking down opponents to give themselves a chance, like with Murray having a chance to tie the game at the buzzer.

A 12-point deficit was whittled in less than three minutes, suggesting they don’t stay in a malaise for too long. But still, they’re playing with fire in this series if it keeps up. For their money, the Heat don’t want to hear anything of some fourth-quarter magic on their end.

“I don’t know. It’s just winning basketball,” Jimmy Butler said. “We just happen to win, and it looks like we’re playing good in the fourth quarter. I can’t tell you the answer to that question. I wish that wasn’t even a thing.”

Butler, the contrarian he is, scoffed at the notion the Heat have some tactical or mental advantage in the fourth. The Heat have been outscored in every individual quarter of the Finals, yet dominate the fourth.

“We definitely don’t know that,” Butler said, referencing the stat. “We just want to win. I’m telling you, we just want to win, and if it happens to be coming back in the fourth quarter, then that’s what it is.

“If it happens to be holding a lead in the fourth quarter, I pray that that’s what it is. At the end of the day, we’ve just got to find a way to win.”

There hasn’t been Butler magic individually, but the Heat did switch him onto Murray, giving him a size and strength advantage when Murray’s usually bigger, stronger and quicker than his counterparts.

It doesn’t quite explain everything, even with Jokić’s quick rest. They’ve appeared indecisive at times, or at least relative to the break-neck pace they’ve shown in the first 36 minutes.

Malone pointed out 32% of the fourth-quarter possessions have resulted in late-clock situations compared to 19% in the first three quarters.

“Which means we’re taking the ball out of the net, we’re walking it up, we’re playing against the zone,” Malone said. “And we’re getting caught playing in really late-clock situations, which is hurting our offense.”

Malone determines late-clock as seven seconds remaining or fewer, almost the inverse of Mike D’Antoni’s famed system. But he doesn’t think it’s tightness either.

“I haven’t seen indecision,” Malone said. “I’ve seen, once again, a lack of communication and discipline. They played zone not just in the fourth quarter, and we’ve been fine against it.”

No matter the situation, the Heat feel quite comfortable and confident when the game gets tight.

They’re naturally intense, anyways — behaving like a boxer aware the knockout punch could come at any time, even against a staggered opponent.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that have been in big games, playoff tested, so I don’t think any of it is our guys getting tight,” Malone said. “I think it’s just not adhering to the discipline that the game needs.”

If nothing else, they’d better get comfortable being uncomfortable, because once Miami gets you there it’s hard to break free from those clutches.