Takeaways, reaction, details from Heat’s Game 2 NBA Finals win in Denver

Five takeaways from the Heat’s 111-108 win in Denver on Sunday in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, knotting the series at 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Wednesday in Miami:

▪ Just when you think Jimmy Butler is running on fumes, he summons enough to lift his team late. And Bam Adebayo was superb for the second game in a row. That helped offset 41 points by Nikola Jokic.

After scoring a personal playoff-low 13 points in Game 1, Butler was again more of a facilitator than scorer through three quarters, missing all four of his shots in the third to go to the fourth with 13 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

But after resting for the first four plus minutes of the fourth quarter, Butler delivered three big baskets — a three-pointer, a three-point play on a driving jumper and foul and a jumper.

Butler — who closed with 21 points and 9 assists — has shot 41 percent and averaged 23 points in the past 10 playoff games, compared with 32 points on 55 percent in the first nine games.

He shot only 7 for 19 but 5 for 5 on free throws Sunday after not getting to the line in Game 1.

And Butler leads the NBA — by far — in clutch points during these playoffs, and he keeps coming through when needed.

Meanwhile, Butler did good work defending Jamal Murray, whose 18 points were nine below his playoff average. Murray, with Butler on him, missed a three-pointer in the closing seconds with Denver down three.

“He got off a decently good look,” Butler said. “I just contested it. Pretty glad he missed it.”

Adebayo was very good for the second game in a row, delivering 21 points (on efficient 8-for-14 shooting), 9 rebounds and 4 assists, with two blocks in 40 minutes.

And he made Jokic work, often without help; though Jokic scored 41, he had five turnovers compared with four assists. Jokic entered averaging 10.6 assists and 3.4 turnovers in the playoffs.

“We can’t say enough of how difficult his responsibilities are in this series, arguably the toughest cover in the league [Jokic],” Spoelstra said. “And he has to shoulder a big offensive load for us as well. It’s not like he can rest on the offensive end. And play 40 minutes for us as well.”

Beyond his man-to-man defense, he anchored a Heat zone that slowed the Nuggets for much of the fourth quarter until Denver got hot late.

The Heat shot 17 for 35 on threes, and Nuggets coach Mike Malone was perturbed afterward.

“Effort is a huge concern of mine,” Malone said. “Whether feeling sorry for themselves or not making shots, or feeling they can turn it on or off. That’s really perplexing and disappointing.

“I asked our team why we lost. They knew the answer: Miami came in and outworked us. By far our most undisciplined game. So many breakdowns and they exploited all of them.”

This was Denver’s first home loss of the playoffs.

▪ The change to the starting lineup worked.

Kevin Love, who had not played since Game 5 of the Celtics series, replaced Caleb Martin in the starting lineup, and the Heat outscored Denver by 18 points in his 22 minutes.

“I didn’t have the foresight; that’s on me,” Spoelstra said of not starting Love in Game 1. “We just went through what finished the previous series. Clearly we needed that size and physicality that Kevin brings.”

Though he shot just 2 for 9, he had 10 rebounds and consistently made the right plays.

“That’s a great coaching adjustment, putting Kevin Love in the starting lineup,” Kyle Lowry said.

Love was a factor early, drawing a charge and forcing a turnover with a deflection as Miami jumped to a 21-10 lead. The Heat also played well when he returned late in the second quarter.

And even though Love shot 1 for 5 in the first half, the Heat outscored Denver by 15 during the 13 minutes he was on the floor before halftime; when he was off the floor, the Nuggets were plus 21 in the first half.

Love played only the first five minutes of the second half, missing his only shot, but Miami outscored the Nuggets by three in those minutes.

“Kevin is the ultimate pro,” Lowry said. “He changed our locker room with his energy and effort.”

Miami is now 11-4 in the playoffs when starting Love alongside Butler, Adebayo, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.

▪ The Heat bench, generally an asset during this playoff run, was a disaster in the first half, before Duncan Robinson (in particular), Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin gave Miami a boost to start the fourth quarter.

Robinson scored eight points (on his first three shots of the game) in the first 1:12 of the fourth quarter to pull the Heat within 85-83. Then, after a Gabe Vincent three gave Miami its first lead since early in the second quarter, Robinson cut to the basket and hit a layup to put the Heat up 88-85.

So that meant Robinson scored 10 points in the first 2:17 of the fourth, fueling a 15-2 Heat run to start the fourth. Those were his only 10 points of the game, but they thoroughly changed the momentum of the game.

Lowry had three points and three assists in the fourth quarter.

“Duncan’s minutes were really good, and Kyle has this veteran championship experience that settles everyone,” Spoelstra said.

And Martin defended with verve in the fourth and hit a key three (his only basket of the game) in the fourth.

The Heat bench entered having outscored opponents’ reserves by 231 points in the postseason, which is what made the first half debacle so uncharacteristic.

Denver — down 11 early — unleashed a 34-11 barrage after Spoelstra inserted multiple reserves. Spoelstra went 10 deep in the first half and none played well.

Lowry committed two turnovers and was a minus-21 in eight first-half minutes.

Haywood Highsmith was a minus-17 in six scoreless first half minutes.

Cody Zeller continued to get minutes at backup center and was a minus-14 for the night in 18 minutes.

Nuggets backups Jeff Green, Bruce Brown and Christian Braun outscored the Heat’s reserves 20-5 in the first half, outrebounded them and outdefended them.

After the Heat went to Zeller and Lowry late in the third, Denver outscored the Heat 10-5 before Adebayo returned to start the fourth.

Spoelstra clearly wants Zeller’s height (6-11) against the 6-11 Jokic, but Zeller hasn’t been able to slow Jokic when he’s on the court, and has generally been ineffective when Jokic is off the court.

But the Heat’s bench suddenly found life to start the fourth, thanks to Robinson.

Robinson, Lowry and Martin were on the court for that 15-2 run to start the fourth, and Spoelstra stuck with them through the fourth.

Miami outscored Denver 36-25 and shot 69 percent in the fourth quarter. Robinson, Lowry and Martin combined for 16 of those 36.

“Once Duncan gets going and sees the ball go through the net, it’s really good,” Lowry said.

▪ Vincent and Strus seized on Denver defensive breakdowns and made vital contributions.

The Heat’s starting guards — Vincent and Strus — combined for 37 points, nine assists and just one turnover.

After scoring 19 on 7-for-14 shooting in Game 1, Vincent opened 7 for 9 and finished the night 8 for 12, scoring 23 with three assists in 32 minutes.

“I know the level of confidence we have in him,” Butler said. “He’s our starting PG for a reason.”

He shot 4 for 6 on threes, and is now 21 on his past 38 three-point attempts, going back to Game 3 of the Boston series, and 9 for 16 on threes in this series. What’s more, Miami outscored Denver by 22 in his minutes.

“He’s a special guy, an incredible winning player,” Spoelstra said.

After shooting 0 for 10 in Game 1, Strus began the game with a three, then hit another soon after. His 12 points tied LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for most points by a Heat player in the first quarter of a Finals game.

“He’s a winning basketball player,” Spoelstra said. “He does winning things defensively, he’s physical, he’s in the right spots. He’s a great block-out guy. If you give him a task, he’ll do it.”

Strus finished with 14 points (on 4-for-10 shooting, all three-point attempts), with six assists and no turnovers in 29 minutes.

“We didn’t communicate well on their screens, weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be,” Murray said.

▪ Tyler Herro’s return will create interesting playing-time decisions for Spoelstra. He’s still awaiting the go-ahead from doctors to return, seven weeks after fracturing his right hand:

Herro participated in practice Saturday but has not been cleared by the medical staff for game action, Spoelstra said.

NBA TV said he will play in Game 3; ESPN said there’s optimism he will play in Game 3.

“We’re really encouraged by the progress,” Spoelstra said. “He started doing contact work as soon as we got to Denver.

“We have to maintain perspective. We want to be responsible about this. We’re all excited and encouraged by his progress, but we’ll get back to Miami. All we’re doing is sticking to the process, trying to stack positive days, also understanding this is not trying to return to a game in December. This is the Finals. So, there is a little bit of context to this.”

Nuggets coach Malone said his team has prepared for Herro’s expected return.

“We’ve talked about knowing he’s going to come back at some point in this series,” Malone said. “Hasn’t played since Game 1 of that Milwaukee series. He’s been out for a while. We know what kind of talent he is. His ability to play off the bounce, create for himself, create for his teammates and obviously shoot the three ball.

“If and when he becomes available, our guys will be ready, from a personnel standpoint and a game plan standpoint.”