Miami Heat: 3 blazing hot factors vs. the Denver Nuggets
By Trey Flynn
Factor no. 2: Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are the spiderman meme
While Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are essentially the same size and play very similar games, the Denver Nuggets have no choice but to start the two scorers next to each other and handover the primary ball handling duties to Murray, with of course, Jokic facilitating most of the offense.
And while Murray is undoubtedly the better player at this point in their young careers, you can’t leave Harris alone anywhere. Which makes this game very important for the starting backcourt in Miami, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson, to do their jobs at a high level. So, for Justise and J-Rich, you have to play these two a lot like the way the best teams play Stephen Curry, which is to physically take the scorer out of the game by brute strength and relentless on-the-ball defense.
Murray past 3 games: 19.0 PPG, 5.0 TRB, 5.7 AST, with shooting splits of 40.0/42.1/64.3.
Harris past 3 games: 15.0 PPG, 4.3 TRB, 2.3 AST, with shooting splits of 41.7/38.9/80.0.
Both of these guards can pull up 30 points on any given night, but it’s where the defense decides to let them shoot that matters. Murray does very well around pick-and-rolls at the perimeter where he can get hot shooting the ball, as well as being able to dice up a defense in the restricted zone, playing very well near the basket. As for Harris, you want to force him near the rim, as he’s a knock down shooter if you give him room.
Therefore, I wouldn’t play Richardson on Murray too much, as J-Rich is often playing his opponents too close and fouls them during their shot (think the way he plays near shooters from downtown, like Damian Lillard). While Richardson’s intensity isn’t something you can find in an average NBA defender, it would be more utilized in a fast break transition defense off a turnover through a steal or block caused by his movement all over the court.
Meaning: Josh Richardson is a Tasmanian devil on defense, which means he should be able to cause havoc off-the-ball.
As for Winslow, the Heat should use his strength and smarts to guard Murray at every point of this game. And this brings up another valid Bam point, when Murray gets around his picks, he’ll often just toy with the big man that gets switched on him. We all know that he would turn Whiteside into BBQ chicken, so this is another valid reason to let Bam get the majority of time at the center position.
Side note: another guard to watch out for would be Monte Morris, the Nuggs backup point guard, who has been torching defenses all season long for his opponents lack of recognition of his talent on the offensive end (think Isaiah Thomas-like player).
Our final factor has more to do with the Heat as a whole.