Someone has to say it: Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are really good at basketball. Like, really good. They just made history as the first teammates in the NBA to both have a 30 point triple-double in the same Finals game. An insane stat, and one that needs some context. So how exactly did the dynamic duo go absolutely nuclear on the Miami Heat?
The combined shot chart for Murray and Jokic. Ridiculous.
We’ll start with the first quarter and work our way from there. The first good look we got at the Murray-Jokic P&R came at roughly 10:32 in the first quarter. Defensively, Miami looked to make paint touches difficult. Erik Spoelstra’s squad put Bam Adebayo on Jokic, Jimmy Butler on Murray, and Kevin Love on Aaron Gordon. That let the Heat keep a big body on Gordon without sacrificing defense on Jokic. It also meant Murray was going to need his best to fend off Butler. All said, shots inside were supposed to be hard to come by. Cue the P&R. Jimmy Butler fell behind when Jokic got Murray the ball, which put Kevin Love in a difficult spot. He opted to take away the roll from Jokic. But Gabe Vincent recognized what was happening, so he left his man to pack the paint. Problem is, Murray already had a great look at the basket and was able to score with ease.
A couple possessions later, Murray got another great look despite really poor spacing on the part of his teammates. Watch the play below.
Now, Butler nearly picked Murray’s pocket. The aforementioned poor spacing allowed Vincent to take a swipe at the ball, which forced Murray to put the ball back into Butler’s range. After the poke, though, no Heat players were able to recover the ball. Max Strus had to stick with Michael Porter Jr. to not give up a wide open triple. But the real action occurred down low. Notice, the Heat are super concerned about the size Denver had inside. Kevin Love did not want to leave Aaron Gordon too early, and Bam had his hands full with Jokic. All those factors meant Murray could just float into the loose ball with great positioning and an easy look.
The next possession, the P&R forced the Heat to switch, putting Butler on Jokic in the post. Jimmy is a strong guy, but he’s just not big enough to stop Jokic once he gets deep position. Denver used the P&R mainly to attack the Heat high, though they threw some different looks at them from time to time. At 8:23 for example, Jokic set a back screen to allow Murray to use his speed to get into space. The solid screen slowed Jimmy, Bam was forced to stop the ball, and the pair was unable to recover enough to stop a wide open close range jumper.
Particularly infuriating is the last shot. Jokic looks like a grown man playing on a mini-hoop. He has three defenders in his proximity. Jimmy is right next to him! Ridiculous (and borderline unfair). The real highlights are in the second and third quarters, though. RADIATION WARNING: the boys are about to go nuclear.
Murray had an absolute heater in the second quarter. After missing his first attempt (an open three from the left corner), Jamal decided he just wasn’t going to do that anymore. His second attempt was a quick stepback on the left wing over the outstretched arm of Bam with an expiring shot clock. Swish. His third attempt was another three, by way of the tried and true P&R with his Serbian big man. The action forced a switch, Bam sagged off, and Murray immediately fired. Swish. Two minutes later, Caleb Martin made the baffling decision to double a Jokic backdown, leaving Murray wide open for another bomb. Swish. His final shot of the quarter was the result of some great dribble penetration off the P&R again. Denver had the strong side corner loaded with two players and Jokic stepped out to the arc after his screen. Caleb Martin actually fought over the screen well enough to stick to Murray’s hip, and with Jokic on the three point line, Bam was able to provide extra help on the drive. However, a quick hesitation and slight head fake from Jamal froze the Heat just enough to get to the cup.
Not to be outdone, Jokic turned things up in the third quarter of action. To open the quarter, the Nuggets ran a set in which Jokic set a flex screen for MPJ before receiving a pindown from Murray. Jokic caught the ball at the free throw line and took advantage of the slightest hesitancy from the defense to knock down a shot. He then showed off his guard skills as he attacked a long closeout with a pump fake, drive, and sweet finger roll. He also busted out his signature Sombor Shuffle on Kevin Love at the free throw line. Another pump fake got Bam on his toes, and Gordon set a pick that forced Love to switch. He didn’t stand a chance. Then he hit an awkward floater on Vincent, before deciding ,”You know what? I’m just gonna shoot a three.” A three he hit, by the way. He only missed his last shot of the quarter due to a great block by Zeller on the weak side help.
I won’t continue to belabor the point. Both guys scored with ease, obviously, but they also just made the right passes the whole game. On top of that, Jokic was a MONSTER on the boards. Several times throughout the game I audibly asked “What are the Heat supposed to do?” It’s a question I still do not have an answer for. To their credit, it felt like Miami was in the game the whole time. They were tied at the end of the first quarter and only down five at halftime. The second half, they just lost their legs. There is hope for Miami, but it unfortunately seems to be fading. My original prediction (which I regrettably did not publish) was Nuggets in six, with Miami taking games two and four. Erik Spoelstra has gotten his guys to respond well throughout not only these playoffs, but the entire season in general. Hopefully, he can do it again when the Heat look to take a win at home tonight.
Full Court Dime 