How will Heat’s three-point shooters respond in Game 4 to Nuggets’ ‘great adjustment?’
The Miami Heat’s three-point shooting has been at the center of its historic playoff run to the NBA Finals.
Even after shooting just 11 of 35 (31.4 percent) from three-point range in Wednesday’s Game 3 loss, the Heat still holds a team-best three-point percentage of 38.8 percent on 34 three-point attempts per game during this year’s playoffs. At this pace, the Heat would become just the ninth team in NBA history to shoot 38.5 percent or better on threes on at least 34 attempts per game during a single playoff run that has lasted more than 20 games.
So, the Nuggets made defending the three-point line a bigger priority in Game 3 by not helping off the Heat’s shooters as often. The adjustment paid off.
The Heat’s inefficient shooting night on Wednesday wasn’t just a matter of missing open shots. The Nuggets’ defense also allowed fewer quality opportunities from three-point range.
In Games 1 and 2 of the Finals when the Heat shot 40.5 percent on threes, 18.9 percent of Miami’s three-point attempts were labeled contested or very contested, which the NBA defines as when the closest defender is within four feet. In Game 3 when the Heat shot 31.4 percent on threes, 28.6 percent of Miami’s three-point looks were classified as contested or very contested.
“I think they made a great adjustment,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said, as the Nuggets take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 of the Finals on Friday at Kaseya Center (8:30 p.m., ABC). “That’s playoff basketball. Every single game is completely different. Adjustments will be made every single night. At this stage, two teams left, you got to be able to make adjustments.
“It’s really a chess match. They did a good job of staying home and making us shoot tough twos, stuff like that.”
The only Heat players who hit multiple threes in Wednesday’s Game 3 loss were Kevin Love (2 of 5), Duncan Robinson (3 of 6) and Caleb Martin (2 of 5). Jimmy Butler finished 1 of 4, Max Strus finished 1 of 4, Gabe Vincent finished 1 of 6 and Lowry finished 1 of 4 from deep.
“I think they competed really hard on both ends of the floor,” Vincent said Thursday when asked about the Nuggets’ defense. “Credit to them. Credit to the way they came out and fought. I think we had a slight lack of intention, a slight lack of spacing probably that we could do a little better on our part. They competed really well.”
Of course, the Heat also missed a few open three-point opportunities, too.
Miami shot just 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) on open three-point shots in Game 3 compared to 20 of 50 (40 percent) on those type of shots in the first two games of the series. An open three-point look is defined by the NBA as one when the closest defender is four to six feet away.
“I think we got good looks again,” Strus said. “But it wasn’t about shooting. It was everything else. They just beat us in every aspect of the game.”
So often, though, it has come down to three-point shooting for the Heat this postseason. Miami has shot 41.2 percent from three-point range in its wins and 35.2 percent from three-point range in its losses during this year’s playoffs.
That’s why Nuggets coach Michael Malone made clear Thursday “we want them to try to beat us with tough twos and eliminate the threes as much as possible.”
“That’s good basketball,” Lowry said. “It’s good for them to be able to make that adjustment. Now we got to go and watch the film, figure out what we can do better, how we can adjust, how we can adapt, get some better looks.”
