From the Logo apologizes for the sparse production off late. I have been working on a personal writing project that has sucked up some of my writing bandwidth. In somewhat related news, if any of my readers (or someone you know) is a literary agent interested in fresh, new literary fiction, holler at your boy. But to make it up to you, this one is extra long (too long for email clients and you may want to click through), so crack open a beer. I am enjoying a Woodfour Maibock myself.
I once took a college class with a real mensch. That happened to be a quarter when I was especially sickly and had to miss class on more that one occasion. Thankfully this friend came through with detailed lecture notes when I needed them. On occasion, I have thought that it would be nice to have “lecture notes” for games that I cannot watch, just raw output with some commentary that I can then tease threads and patterns out of. Game 3 of these NBA finals marked the first time in a while that I was able to watch a complete playoff game and afford myself the indulgence of taking notes along the way. So here goes a little experiment: my game 3 notes. Think of it as an annotated highlights package. And if this content intrigues, let me know!
On to the game…
First Quarter
11:25 - In an appearance on the Lowe Post podcast previewing the finals, Steve Jones Jr. mentioned Miami’s empty side pick and roll sets as being something to keep an eye on. Miami ran that play with Max Strus and Bam Adebayo to get its first points.
Early things I’m watching: Is Nikola Jokic at the level of the screen or in a drop? It was hard to tell on the play above. Also, it’s interesting that Miami ran this with Strus rather than Jimmy Butler as the ball handler; is that to involve a weaker defender in Michael Porter Jr. rather than Aaron Gordon?
10:55 - Nice Chicago action from Miami after Gordon gets matched up on Bam and Jokic on Kevin Love in transition. Taking advantage of Jokic sitting back in the paint again (and some miscommunication from Denver), Love has all the time in the world to fire up a three.
10:00 - More empty side pick and roll from Miami, with Strus getting in the paint before hitting Bam in stride. I don’t think Denver will mind giving up this look as a product of Jokic staying in his drop. Subtle thing to note: Gordon’s stunt on Strus’ dribble, something he can be aggressive on with Butler still trailing far behind the arc. Assists for Strus on all three Miami buckets.
7:55 - Jokic definitely seems to be at the level of the screen on this Strus-Bam pick and roll. Jamal Murray has to sink in to tag Bam’s hard roll, leaving Gabe Vincent open in the weak side corner. That is a sweet skip pass from Max Strus; who knew he had that in his bag? Four assists for him now as a result of great decision making in the pick and roll.
5:40 - Jamal Murray has been aggressive early, looking for his shot and looking to get Jokic looks from his sweet spot at and just below the nail. The Nuggets clearly have a plan and want to get both Murray and Jokic paint looks early and often. Denver got some early points when Jokic bullied Butler on a post up. And here, even though Gordon has a mismatch on Vincent after slipping the first screen in a double drag set, Murray barely looks at him.
5:15 - Again, the Jokic-Murray two-man game generates Jokic a bucket from that spot in the circle. Denver is generating looks for Jokic out of motion rather than just trying to enter the ball out of a static perimeter feed.
4:29 - Although Strus misses here, this play is emblematic of Miami’s half court offense at its best. Smart screens from Bam with subtle angle changes, Jamal Murray being forced to change directions, confusion sown, and a botched switch nearly leading to a three.
4:19 - And now in transition, the Nuggets find Jokic sealing Love and getting the easy floater. Jokic is getting all the paint touches he wants and feasting. Who needs threes if Denver can keep generating these paint looks for the Joker?
1:14 - How good is Jimmy Butler at operating in tight spaces? Denver defends this well. First, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hard hedges before recovering onto his man (Kyle Lowry) and Jeff Green does his best to best to fight through a Cody Zeller screen, while Bruce Brown stunts at Butler to buy Green some time to recover. Jimmy is just that good.
Second Quarter
9:20 - At the ten minute mark we get our first sighting of Miami’s famous zone. The Nuggets seem ready for it and run some Pistol action on the next possession, with Murray then cutting along the baseline to the opposite corner. Clearly all five Nuggets players have their instructions (peek Gordon and Green both setting screens for Murray) and although Murray misses, this is a good look.
8:49 - Yep, the Nuggets are ready for Miami’s zone. Denver overloads the strong side with Jokic cutting across to the mid post area. Christian Braun cuts to the hoop as soon as Bam follows to guard Jokic’s post up. Now that is how you bust a zone.
8:28 - Communication breakdown in the Denver defense leads to a wide open Caleb Martin nailing a corner 3. It looks like this one is on Christian Braun, less so for chilling under the basket than for not yelling out to Jeff Green or Jamal Murray to switch out on Martin. This is where Denver leaves food on the table.
6:21 - Twist! The Heat trap Murray on a Jokic-Murray pick and roll. Bruce Brown should probably be passing to Aaron Gordon in the post here instead of firing up a semi-contested three. I am curious to see if Miami throws more traps at Murray and what Denver’s decision making is like on those plays.
5:00 - Aaron Gordon is perfect in this Nuggets system. Here’s one that won’t show up in the box score: Gordon is cutting to the weak side and drawing his defender (Lowry) even before Murray’s entry pass finds Jokic. Although Jokic misses, that’s a high value post up, made more so by the absence of an extra defender digging in from the wing.
4:11 - Basketball analysis can be simple sometimes. Case in point: If you triple team a player, you better nail the back line rotations. Denver does not. Bang, wide open Strus triple.
3:26 - It doesn’t feel like the Heat have any business being in a tie game after the way Denver’s offense has performed. However, Miami has managed to drag Denver’s lesser defenders (Murray and MPJ) into the action. Here, Butler gets Murray switched onto him, Martin cuts behind a momentarily inattentive MPJ, and that forces Jokic to rotate over, leaving Bam open to clean up the glass.
0:56 - Miami traps Murray again and Denver seems ready, with a player providing an outlet on the wing and immediately entering to Jokic in the post. Although the Joker misses, Denver looks like it knows what it is doing (peek the player cutting in from the weak side corner) and I like the process for Denver.
Third Quarter
10:53 - Open three created for MPJ by Murray in transition that just doesn’t fall. This could have pushed the lead to double digits for the first time in the game, Miami dodges one.
10:02 - Another great transition three that doesn’t fall, again created by Murray, this time for KCP. The most striking thing about this play to me is MPJ running the floor hard. His run to the rim draws Vincent away from KCP on the perimeter. Coach Malone has to be happy that MPJ isn’t letting the previous miss compromise his effort level.
8:05 - More MPJ effort, this time fighting over Bam’s screen to put in an excellent rearview contest on Butler’s jumper and force a miss. This has to be warming the Denver coaching staff’s hearts.
6:40 - And another MPJ rearview contest after running over a screen to force a miss! Great MPJ hustle minutes in this third quarter so far, his offense be damned.
6:26 - Give MPJ his flowers. After getting called out not-so-subtly by Coach Malone in the Game 2 aftermath, he has brought the effort tonight. After his strong defensive stand, he hustles for an offensive board and generates a jump ball.
5:57 - Even as MPJ has amped up his defensive effort, Jamal Murray seems to have slacked off a bit. Here he just meanders off of Kevin Love on the wing and gives up an open look. Luckily for the Nuggets, Love misses.
5:20 - More inattention from Murray, losing track off Max Strus drifting along the arc. Murray doesn’t even commit to the stunt on Butler, so it’s the worst of all worlds. Murray’s positioning allows Strus to drive past him into a pull up.
2:44 - This is a great pass from Aaron Gordon, twisting and finding Christian Braun cutting from the corner (shout out Braun again). Notice the little head fake Gordon makes towards the wing, sending Jimmy Butler flying in that direction. That fake fully opens up the cut for Braun.
2:15 - Braun is getting it done on both ends, stepping in here to stonewall Gabe Vincent’s drive. And then a textbook contest to force a miss without fouling. This is mature defense from a rookie.
1:12 - Denver was ready for Miami’s zone in the second quarter and they have stayed ready. The entire team seems to be locked in. Peek Jokic fake directing Murray to pass to Bruce Brown on the wing, which opens the pass up to himself. Both Christian Braun (have yourself a game!) and Jeff Green are cutting as soon as the pass is in Jokic’s hands. You almost feel bad for Duncan Robinson, zoning up the weak side and panicking when he realizes that two Nuggets are flying past him.
Related: I would be curious to see how the Murray-Jokic-Brown-Braun-Green lineup has fared against zone defenses. The eye test suggests that they know how to carve up a zone. Jokic is the ultimate zone buster. Brown was a shrewd playmaker and cutter in his Brooklyn days when teams trapped James Harden, or busted out a zone. Jeff Green is a wily vet and Christian Braun has shown some serious cutting smarts.
Fourth Quarter
11:12 - I thought Denver had things figured out when Miami traps Murray, but they turn the ball over at the start of the fourth. Bruce Brown should probably be showing high for Murray much sooner here. Unfortunately this is probably best deployed sparingly and I don’t know how much meat there is on the bone for Miami here.
10:12 - The aforementioned Denver lineup has no problem handling Miami’s 2-3 zone once again. Braun drives into the teeth of Miami’s defense and gets Jokic a mid-ranger that he can make in his sleep. Denver is breaking Miami’s zone even when Jokic isn’t passing out of it. That doesn’t bode well for the Heat.
9:35 - Christian Braun has been so impressive. In addition to showing the cutting nous to prise open Miami’s zone, he is patient when Miami traps Murray again. Rather than rushing a shot or a helter-skelter drive, Braun waits a beat, allowing Jeff Green to cut towards the basket. It’s an easy pass over the top for Braun and Green gets fouled.
9:23 - More patience from Braun; rather than toss up a three (17% from the corners in these playoffs per Cleaning the Glass), he pump fakes and drives around Butler to get Jokic another easy in-rhythm paint look. This is a really calm head on a rookie.
8:48 - Hey, if Christian Braun’s cutting can beat the Heat zone, it can beat the Heat’s traps on Murray too. And-one and now it really looks Miami is out of answers on the defensive end against this lineup.
5:29 - It feels weird to say with the Nuggets up 16 and well on their way to a win, but they should be up by more. Murray engages in some more aimless wandering on the defensive end, and Vincent drives past his close out for a bucket. If Denver cuts out some of these mistakes, it’s hard to see how Miami puts points on the board in the half court.
And that’s all I have for Game 3! Let me know if a full game recap of this sort is/isn’t what you would like to see more of. I had the Nuggets in 6 pre-series and nothing in the first three games has moved me off of that. The Heat could obviously still win in 6 or 7, but their margin for error seems far, far smaller than Denver’s.