2. Game 2 of the NBA Finals
In their lone win of the 2023 NBA Finals, the Heat went into Denver and beat the Nuggets, 111-108, in Game 2 to tie the series. With the next two games in Miami, the win was enough to get people to reconsider the Heat’s chances to knock off the overwhelming, odds-on favorite. While Nikola Jokic scored 41 points, he also had just four assists to five turnovers and had to work to get everything against Bam Adebayo and the Heat defense. The Nuggets shot 39.3% from 3 in the game, but the Heat made 48.6% of their 3s. Jimmy Butler (21 points, nine assists), Bam Adebayo (21 points, nine rebounds) and Gabe Vincent (23 points) led a well-rounded Heat effort that gave them the uperhand in the series. Of course, we know how it ended. The Nuggets won the next three and the championship. But the Nuggets dominated all playoffs and were clearly the best team in the league last season. That the Heat took a game off them and made people wonder if they could win the series speaks to their performance in this game.
Revisit: How the Miami Heat’s fourth quarter changed the NBA Finals