Heat goes to Denver still looking up at times. But there’s a new twist and Miami’s rolling

In losing in five games, Miami, quite literally, came up short in most every possible way during last year’s NBA Finals.

But when the steamrolling Heat returns to Denver on Thursday for the first time since that championship series, the Heat’s height deficit won’t be nearly as pronounced, because Heat forward Nikola Jovic has developed into a serviceable starter when called upon against bigger frontcourts.

Jovic, 6-10, hit two big threes during a 27-15 Heat third-quarter run on Tuesday in Portland, a night that ended with a 106-96 win, Miami’s fifth victory in a row (all on the road) and ninth win in its past 11 games. Since Jan. 1, the Heat is 9-5 when Jovic starts, including recent wins in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Portland.

The Heat will try to sweep this four-game Western Conference sojourn on Thursday in Denver (10 p.m., TNT), eight months after the Nuggets beat Miami in five games for the championship.

The Heat lost the NBA Finals mostly because of Finals MVP Nikola Jokic’s brilliance (he averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in the series) and because its offense wasn’t nearly good enough, averaging 96.4 points and shooting 34.3 percent from the field during the five games.

But size also was a factor. Denver had four more blocks and annihilated the Heat on the boards, 232-188, which was no surprise considering:

A). Miami missed a lot of shots and

B). the Nuggets were bigger at center (6-11 Jovic against 6-9 Bam Adebayo), small forward (6-10 Michael Porter Jr. against 6-7 Jimmy Butler), point guard (6-4 Jamal Murray against 6-2 Gabe Vincent) and power forward (where 6-8 Aaron Gordon opened Games 2 through 5 against 6-8 Kevin Love, but also matched up with 6-5 Caleb Martin).

With Love logging just 14 to 22 minutes in his four Finals starts, Miami often went small against Gordon, who took full advantage, averaging 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 60.4 percent from the field.

During the Finals, Gordon had his way when guarded by Martin (shooting 5 for 5 against him) and also had success when defended by Adebayo (4 for 8), Love (4 for 9), Butler (5 for 9) and Haywood Highsmith (1 for 1). Of those defenders, only Love is as tall as Gordon.

Denver’s Jokic, meanwhile, scored at will against the shorter Adebayo (shooting 26 for 46 against him), Butler (11 for 14) and Love (3 for 5). Jokic shot only 4 for 11 against Martin, curiously.

Denver’s Finals win could have been even more lopsided if Porter Jr. hadn’t been so off with his shot; he closed the series 4 for 28 on threes and shooting 32.8 percent overall.

In the second-year Jovic, Erik Spoelstra now has a (part-time) starter who was an option in theory, but certainly not a realistic option, during last year’s Finals. His overall game and defensive awareness are far more advanced than a year ago.

Jovic hasn’t been a disaster defensively in limited minutes against a few established players of similar size. As an example: Milwaukee’s 7-1 Brook Lopez shot 2 for 6 against him this season, 6-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo 2 for 4 and Houston’s 6-11 Jabari Smith Jr. 2 for 6. All players defended by Jovic this season are shooting 47.3 percent, slightly worse than they shoot overall (47.5).

“We’re giving up size [against Denver] and that’s where even myself stepped in Game 2 [in the Finals] and gave us a little more size in that starting lineup,” said Love, who has fit comfortably into a bench role this season. “That’s where you implement Niko into that starting lineup. He gives you that 6-10, 6-11 presence in there. That size really help against teams that across the board have good size -- Boston, Milwaukee.”

Regardless, Adebayo figures to get the lion’s share of work defensively against the essentially unstoppable Jokic. If the Heat’s Jovic starts again as expected, he could open on Gordon or Porter Jr.

Jovic has now started 16 games this season, including the last four for which he was available. Spoelstra likes having a three–point shooting, floor-spacing player at power forward, and that often has meant going undersized with Martin or Highsmith starting.

But Jovic -- who’s shooting 46.7 percent on threes (28 for 60) -- gives the Heat a floor spacer with size, though he lacks the perimeter defensive skills of Martin or Highsmith.

Miami gave up 15 offensive rebounds in Portland but overall is allowing the third fewest offensive rebounds per game this season, despite being at a size deficit most nights. And the ample use of zone defense has often masked the Heat’s size issues.

On the flip side, the Heat is 20th in percentage of total rebounds corralled at 49.7, and size is certainly a factor with that.

The Heat often has been left at a height deficit on switches, though that’s nothing new.

So has the lack of size hurt the Heat this season? At times.

“Size, I wouldn’t call it a limiting factor, but it’s something we all need to step up with, especially on the glass to help us win games,” Love said, citing the Heat’s strong record (19-4) when it out-rebounds teams. “We like to get up the floor and use our pace.”

The 6-5 Highsmith generally has held his own defending taller players. Orlando’s 6-10 Paolo Banchero has shot 4 for 18 against Highsmith, and the Knicks’ 6-8 Julius Randle is 4 for 12 against him this season. Boston’s 6-8 Jayson Tatum is 1 for 6 against Highsmith this season after shooting 4 for 17 against him last season (including the Eastern Finals).

Martin has had trouble this year with Tatum (5 for 6 against him) and Banchero (5 for 9). But as long as elite defender Adebayo is on the floor guarding the opposing team’s most skilled frontcourt player, Miami has figured out a way to make it work. And Jovic’s size can only help.

The Heat’s defense has been far better over the past 11 games. During February, Miami has permitted the fewest points per game in the league while yielding the second-lowest three-point shooting percentage and fifth-lowest overall shooting from the field.

After Thursday’s game, the Heat and Nuggets play a second time March 13 in Miami on ESPN.