Murray, the Nuggets’ point guard, missed a 3-point attempt from the left corner, and the Heat raced away for a game-tying bucket.
Murray and Jokic both finished with triple-doubles for Denver, which, for one game, at least, was largely unfazed by Miami’s shape-shifting defense.
“We didn’t offer much resistance,” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra, who bemoaned his team’s lack of effort but considered it an anomaly.
He added: “I think the thing that we’ve proven over and over and over is we can win and find different ways to win.”And one of those ways is with their zone defense.
So, in an effort to slow the pace of play and compensate for their lack of size, the Heat are occasionally abandoning their man-to-man defense by mixing in some zone.
Persons:
Murray, Miami . Murray, Jokic, ”, Erik Spoelstra
Organizations:
Nuggets, Heat, Denver
Locations:
Miami .