Omer miami heat1/20/2024 For the Heat to have any chance to pull off this upset, he needs to be in attack mode. They need him to be his switchy, pesky, guard-whoever-you-want-me-to self on defense, and then they need that aggression to channel itself to the other end. If the Heat want to keep pace with the Denver Demigod of Passing and Exploitation, they need Martin. They can’t afford to start buffering against the Nuggets incendiary offense. In their rough stretches, Miami’s offense can get stuck in the mud. Shooting the ball like a lost Splash Brother, dumping hell on the defense’s head, and guarding like mad. After averaging just 9.6 points per game during the regular season, he’s gone volcanic. Tyler Parker: Caleb Martin’s scoring has been one of the biggest bright spots of these playoffs and one of the biggest surprises. But Miami will need all of the firepower it can get to keep up with Denver’s blistering offense, and the will-he, won’t-he questions only heighten the Heat’s biggest advantage all postseason: unpredictability. Will he play? If he does, will he wear a bucket hat? The Heat haven’t missed Herro’s shooting, or the problems caused by his lacking individual defense. The Heat will be anything but shy about pulling up from deep, especially if Tyler Herro, who shot 37 percent on pull-up 3s in the regular season, can make a healthy return. The Lakers and Suns attacked Jokic in the drop but they lacked the 3-point shooting to effectively punish Denver’s defensive style. Imagine if Gordon successfully navigates a playoff gauntlet of Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Playoff Jimmy all in a row-Denver’s trade for the former Magic forward could have been a title-winning move. Zach Kram: Tracking data suggests that Aaron Gordon has been by far the best defender against Jimmy Butler over the past three seasons. All roads to a championship for the Heat go through him in some form or fashion, and yet the matchup is stacked against him. And if Bam isn’t a real scoring presence, it’s hard to imagine how Miami will be able to keep up with a Denver team firing on all cylinders. If he can’t make Jokic’s work difficult, the Heat won’t stand a chance. Bam hasn’t had any luck whatsoever slowing down Jokic in their regular-season bouts, but all eyes will be on him as Miami’s first line of defense-and the Heat’s best, considering the alternatives. Maybe it’s wrong to think of a proper star as an X factor in a series like this one, but Nikola Jokic can turn even great players into variables. If Martin can continue to swish seemingly every open 3, make sensational things happen when driving hard closeouts, create turnovers, and hound whoever he’s matched up against, the Heat will have a puncher’s chance. Michael Pina: How could it be anyone but Caleb Martin? He was either Miami’s best or second-best player in the conference finals, capping off the name-making series with a Game 7 for the ages. Who is the biggest X factor in Nuggets-Heat? So who will make history? Our staff answers the most pressing Finals questions and makes their series picks below. Either the Heat will become the only 8-seed ever to win the NBA title, or the Nuggets will capture the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time. An unpredictable NBA season has, fittingly, brought us to the doorstep of a Finals matchup that no one expected: the Denver Nuggets vs.
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