NBA Finals preview and tips: Denver Nuggets at Miami Heat - Game Three
- George Dempsey
- 6 June 2023
Having made adjustments to level the series, Miami Heat will be hopeful of taking a 2-1 NBA Finals lead against Denver Nuggets at Kaseya Center.
Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets will meet at 8:30pm Eastern Time on Wednesday evening, which is 1:30am (BST) on Thursday morning in the UK.
Miami made some good adjustments and played a more physical and intense game in which they drove to the basket more and got to the free-throw line.
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Heat @ Nuggets - Game Three verdict
Despite a better effort in game two, it looked like another loss for Miami. That is until they stepped up to produce a 36-point fourth quarter to win the game 111-108. Gabe Vincent starred with 23 points.
They've stolen home-court advantage for now and silenced the doubters yet again in these NBA playoffs.
SX.bet have made Denver a -2.5 road favourite on the spread.
One of the issues we cited after game one was the fact Miami got to the line just twice. Not only are those points crucial, but that demonstrates they didn't throw their weight around.
Game two was much more physical, much more intense. They got to the line but at the same time, they were able to create better three-point looks off the drive. Max Strus started four of seven from downtown.
Denver coach Michael Malone said after the game that his team just didn't match the intensity of Miami and were punished each time a possession broke down.
Another thing Miami did well was not waste its defensive assets. You can put your best defender on Jokic, but he'll still score, adding a 41-point double-double on the night.
However, they limited his assistance from key role players. That should be the plan again in game three and on their home court, Miami will bring intense defence.
Make no mistake, the Nuggets will rebound and they can win in Miami. Their performance was their third least efficient defensive showing of the playoffs so far.
One of the biggest ways Miami hurt Denver was the three. In the regular season, not many were better than Denver at defending the three, so we expect them to tighten up.
There's also the simple factor of motivation. Denver lost, they want home-court advantage back. They may also be aggrieved that despite a relatively poor performance, officiating calls cost them.
In one instance, Jimmy Butler had stepped out of bounds before assisting on an important three. That wasn't the only incorrect call as the Heat won by just three points.
Erik Spoelstra's team tends to win when the three is going down and lose when it isn't. Just like they made adjustments in game two, we expect Denver to do the same for game three.
We're going to bet on Denver Nuggets -1.5 against Miami Heat with Planetsportbet in game three of the NBA Finals.
