THE Denver Nuggets took Game 3 in Miami. By now, home-court advantage is virtually useless in the ongoing playoffs. The Miami Heat doesn't care about that. They won Game 7 in Boston. They also beat the Nuggets in Game 2 in Denver, where the Nuggets were previously unbeaten in the playoffs. It's a boost, but at this level, the talent, strategy and intensity matter too much for the crowd to be a factor.
The Miami Heat have given their best, and coach Erik Spoelstra is bringing out all his tricks. His Jokic scheme has worked in the second half of Game 1 and the entire Game 2. He faced a previously unbeaten home team with the correct mentality.
Miami was phenomenal from the three-point zone in Game 2, scoring 17 of 35 attempts. You do that in the PBA and you'll blow your opponent by 30 points. The Nuggets, however, still had a chance to win the game despite that and even led going into the third quarter.
The Heat's 48.5-percent shooting from the three-point area would be unsustainable in a full seven-game series. Not even the Golden State Warriors can do that. At their most dominant, the 2018 NBA Finals sweep of LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers, the Warriors had 37.5 percent for the series. That was how good the Heat are today, and they did not blow the Nuggets out.
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