Denver will win and it probably won't be close, honestly. Boston was always a weak #2 seed. Denver is in a whole different league with Murray healthy and as hot as he's been. But most importantly, nobody Miami has will be able to slow down Jokic at all. Bam is too small.
They are a good 3pt shooting team but Nuggets have kcp, Murray, Porter and Jokic all good 3pt shooters. Miami will not be able to outscore Nuggets while Jokic is feeding those shooters. They will make those shots. They are far more reliable 3pt shooters than those undrafted guys in Heat. Bam can't defend Jokic but Jokic can defend Bam because Bam's pretty average in the post. Celtics were the bigger threat of the two for the Nuggets.
@Verbal Christ Not sure you respect the Heat enough Jimmy Butler 6'8" Lowry (comes off the bench) Gabe Vincent 51.6% from 3 vs Boston Max Strus 6'5" and 34.2% from 3 vs Bos Caleb Martin 6'5" and 48.9% from 3 vs Bos Duncan Robinson 6'7" & 48.4% from 3 vs Bos Haywood Highsmith 6'7" & 60% from 3 vs Boston Boston was 2nd in defense in regular season Boston was 2nd in offense in regular season
@Verbal Christ Not sure you respect the Heat enough Jimmy Butler 6'8" Lowry (comes off the bench) Gabe Vincent 51.6% from 3 vs Boston Max Strus 6'5" and 34.2% from 3 vs Bos Caleb Martin 6'5" and 48.9% from 3 vs Bos Duncan Robinson 6'7" & 48.4% from 3 vs Bos Haywood Highsmith 6'7" & 60% from 3 vs Boston Boston was 2nd in defense in regular season Boston was 2nd in offense in regular season These aren't the gassed Lakers any more Kevin Love will play a factor vs Denver Herro due to come back in game 3
Why on earth would you think Miami's hot shooting in that series is sustainable or predictive, lol Nobody shoots that well long-term, not even the best 3P shooters in NBA history, which those guys are not.
If u were a betting man, u would go for Nuggets like 95%. Mvp caliber player in jokic and no number 8th seed has won it all b4.
Sengun can pass but it's usually behind the back, eurostep no look or some weird bounce in the paint. Wonder if he will develop Jokic sling pass or can he make behind the back while moving.
Jimmy is 6’7 and Highsmith is 6’4 And it’s doubtful they shoot that much higher than their season averages again.
I know this has been posted before, but since this guy is about to play in the Finals against Pat Riley's Heat for all the marbles, maybe it's worth seeing Joker's take again about #28 for some perspective on Sengun's talent and potential:
Teams that pressure full court don't like the opponents pressing them full court. Same with trapping defense. Miami, Raptors, Warriors have been kicking in zone defenses for years. It caught the Celtics in game 7. Barkley, Shaq, Kenny talked about it at halftime. It didn't allow Tatum, Jaylen Brown to get that rhythm.....even if Miami threw it out there 19 minutes in the game. It was enough to make a difference. We will see how Jokic, Aaron Gordon, MPJ, Murray, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green. Lyles react to being zoned......and can they zone defensively vs the Heat well to counter? Rule of thumb is you do what got you to the playoffs, finals..... if you have to make changes that you are not used to doing.... you probably have lost already. Whose zone defense and best outside shooters without getting those layups probably wins. Advantage Heat.
The Nuggets torched the zone all year, it's not a perfect magic cheat code defense unless your opponent can't make open threes, which the Celtics struggled with all series, shooting only 30% from three compared to Miami's 43%. The real achievement Miami needs to keep up is their incredibly hot shooting, they've gone from shooting 34% in the regular season to shooting 43 and 45% in two of the three rounds. If they revert to shooting 30% from behind the arc like they did in the Knicks series, I don't see a pathway to victory for the Heat.
