‘Don’t give a damn’ attitude key to Heat beating Nuggets 111-108 and level NBA Finals at 1-1

DENVER – A defiant, “I don’t give a damn” attitude from the Miami Heat was crucial in handing the Denver Nuggets their first home defeat of the play-offs on Sunday.

The Heat surged in the fourth quarter for a 111-108 win that levelled the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals at 1-1.

The eighth-seeded Heat have had to constantly tune out the naysayers’ noise throughout the play-offs, something forward Jimmy Butler said they have perfected as they dispatched the Eastern Conference top seeds Milwaukee Bucks and the second-seeded Boston Celtics.

On Sunday, they withstood a 41-point performance from Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to head home to host Games 3 and 4. Miami are in the finals for a seventh time and in search of a fourth title.

On his side’s resilience, Butler said: “We’re not worried about what anybody thinks. We’re so focused in on what we do well and who we are as a group that, at the end of the day, that’s what we fall back on.

“Make-or-miss shots, we’re going to be who we are because we’re not worried about anybody else. That’s how it’s been all year long, and that’s not going to change... It’s the ‘I don’t give a damn’ factor.”

In a game of swinging shifts of momentum, the Heat had the last word, rallying from a 15-point, first-half deficit and outscoring the Nuggets 36-25 in the final period as they silenced the Ball Arena crowd of 19,537.

Bam Adebayo sealed it with a pair of free throws with 48.3 seconds remaining.

“Biggest thing for us, we heard the noise throughout the whole play-offs. Biggest thing for us, we had the will and we had the belief, and we keep finding ways to win,” added Adebayo, whose side are trying to become the first eighth-seeded team to win the title.

“We gutted out one on their home court, so time to go back to the 305 (Miami area code).”

Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, while Butler and Adebayo scored 21 points apiece for Miami.

The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had 11 rebounds and four assists to go with his 41 points, while teammate Jamal Murray added 18 points and 10 assists.

Aaron Gordon scored 12 points and Bruce Brown added 11 off the bench for the Nuggets, who fell to 9-1 at home in the play-offs.

Miami, who were dominated in a Game 1 loss, vowed to step it up and they started strong, leading by 11 with less than five minutes to play in the first quarter.

The Western Conference top seeds battled back and were up by 15 in the second quarter on the way to a 57-51 half-time lead.

The Heat tied the score at 66-66 midway through the third, but did not manage to get back in front and trailed 83-75 after Denver closed the quarter with a 6-0 run.

But Miami opened the fourth on a 15-2 scoring run, taking the lead for the first time on Vincent’s three-pointer with 10:10 to play and never trailed again.

A livid Michael Malone excoriated Denver’s attitude and lack of endeavour.

“This is NBA Finals, we are talking about effort; that’s a huge concern of mine,” said coach Malone, whose side are trying to lift the Larry O’Brien championship trophy for the first time.

“We had guys out there that were just, whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off.

“This is not the pre-season, this is not the regular season.

“This is the NBA Finals. That to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing.”

Malone said he had demanded answers in the locker room from his team about their performance.

“I asked the team, you guys tell me why they lost, and they knew the answer. Miami came in here and outworked us, and we were by far our least disciplined game (of the play-offs),” he said.

“If we’re going to try to go down there and regain control of this series and get home-court advantage back, we’re going to have to outwork Miami, which we didn’t do tonight, and our discipline is going to have to be off the charts.”

His counterpart Erik Spoelstra was very proud of his side’s reaction in the tough moments.

The Heat coach said: “Our guys love to compete. They love to put themselves out there in those moments of truth.

“Fortunately, we were able to make a lot of big defensive plays down the stretch, and then we got a lot of contributions, which you’re going to need against a team like this.” AFP