2023 NBA Finals, Game 3: Nuggets @ Heat, 6/7 @ 8:30pm

[Shewasfly]

:lol:

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Awfulannouncing is truly the best thing to call this type of reporting.

[AirP.]

Game 3, first game at home would be a great time for Butler to impose his will to try to win game 3, drop 30+ points and completely confuse the Nuggets on what to prepare for in game 4 but would Miami change what's working. If Miami plays the same and loses game 3 at home, yeah, Butler's going to put the team on his back for game 4 to try to even up the season.

[IceColdCubano]

Game 3, first game at home would be a great time for Butler to impose his will to try to win game 3, drop 30+ points and completely confuse the Nuggets on what to prepare for in game 4 but would Miami change what's working. If Miami plays the same and loses game 3 at home, yeah, Butler's going to put the team on his back for game 4 to try to even up the season.

Yes it would be a great thing, but I don't think he is healthy enough to be able to get those types of scoring games for the rest of these finals unfortunately. If he can lock down Murray, and give 18pts-8rb-7ast-3st on amazing defense while controlling the tempo all game youre getting amazing value out of him. Of course these means we need to rely on the rest of the team, to continue to score, hit the three, and make the right plays at the end of games, which means were having to be near perfect from a team standpoint. Its no longer a just a fluke of games, its now become a trend ever since the ankle in New York, he just hasn't been the same, that explosiveness is gone, his shots are completely flat.

[AirP.]

Game 3, first game at home would be a great time for Butler to impose his will to try to win game 3, drop 30+ points and completely confuse the Nuggets on what to prepare for in game 4 but would Miami change what's working. If Miami plays the same and loses game 3 at home, yeah, Butler's going to put the team on his back for game 4 to try to even up the season.

Yes it would be a great thing, but I don't think he is healthy enough to be able to get those types of scoring games for the rest of these finals unfortunately. If he can lock down Murray, and give 18pts-8rb-7ast-3st on amazing defense while controlling the tempo all game youre getting amazing value out of him. Of course these means we need to rely on the rest of the team, to continue to score, hit the three, and make the right plays at the end of games, which means were having to be near perfect from a team standpoint. Its no longer a just a fluke of games, its now become a trend ever since the ankle in New York, he just hasn't been the same, that explosiveness is gone, his shots are completely flat.

No, not the rest of the series, for now just game 3 then go back to what they were doing for game 4, it would completely blow up their defensive plans for game 3 and game 4. When Butler's trying to score his FGA don't lead to as many fast breaks so it would help them defensively too by allowing them to get back and match up properly more often.

[IceColdCubano]

Game 3, first game at home would be a great time for Butler to impose his will to try to win game 3, drop 30+ points and completely confuse the Nuggets on what to prepare for in game 4 but would Miami change what's working. If Miami plays the same and loses game 3 at home, yeah, Butler's going to put the team on his back for game 4 to try to even up the season.

Yes it would be a great thing, but I don't think he is healthy enough to be able to get those types of scoring games for the rest of these finals unfortunately. If he can lock down Murray, and give 18pts-8rb-7ast-3st on amazing defense while controlling the tempo all game youre getting amazing value out of him. Of course these means we need to rely on the rest of the team, to continue to score, hit the three, and make the right plays at the end of games, which means were having to be near perfect from a team standpoint. Its no longer a just a fluke of games, its now become a trend ever since the ankle in New York, he just hasn't been the same, that explosiveness is gone, his shots are completely flat.

I also don't think its the ankle that really giving him his worse, its more like his Knee. His side to side action on defense is still elite, its his leaping ability's, and burst to the basket, his jumpers are completely flat on the middy, which he usually elevates substantially for when he goes for them. He also doesn't have that post up footwork where he pivots around quickly and jumps around the defender, that's a tale tell sign of knees issues I'm sure the ankle is compacting the problem as well. Look at his fadeaway jumper, he usually has great separation when he does his step back middy, he isn't getting it anymore.

[Shewasfly]

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Tonight's game will really be a show of Malone's coaching prowess. His team is moving like they are a bit taken off guard by adversity and underprepared. Maybe even a little nervous. It will be interesting to see if he can get them to settle down tonight and look like they shook off the loss and doubt didn't creep in.

And I'm not just talking about them just getting out there and running their offense and looking like a great basketball team. They will of course do that, their offense is essentially an engine/machine that can produce in its sleep. I'm talking about the mental edge. I'm interested to see if we see them take things to the next level in terms of intensity. Really show the grit and mental toughness, rather than just relying on the talent. Its hard to explain, but very easy to see when its not there. And I would argue we haven't seen it from Denver all playoffs, and now, in the Finals, is their first real need to show it.

[IceColdCubano]

:lol:

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The context of this is actually amusing and amazing at the same time. The fact that he attributes our successful run in the playoffs to a higher power entity, as in out of the realm of control for mortals to understand. Almost means Miami Heat as a franchise is this unexplained chaos in his soul, that either tells him that God is real and just being cruel to him or he isn't and thus would have to admit they are actually a good basketball team which is even worse of a conundrum for him to accept. In this way his subconscious is protecting himself from trying to give us any credit.

[AirP.]

Game 3, first game at home would be a great time for Butler to impose his will to try to win game 3, drop 30+ points and completely confuse the Nuggets on what to prepare for in game 4 but would Miami change what's working. If Miami plays the same and loses game 3 at home, yeah, Butler's going to put the team on his back for game 4 to try to even up the season.

Yes it would be a great thing, but I don't think he is healthy enough to be able to get those types of scoring games for the rest of these finals unfortunately. If he can lock down Murray, and give 18pts-8rb-7ast-3st on amazing defense while controlling the tempo all game youre getting amazing value out of him. Of course these means we need to rely on the rest of the team, to continue to score, hit the three, and make the right plays at the end of games, which means were having to be near perfect from a team standpoint. Its no longer a just a fluke of games, its now become a trend ever since the ankle in New York, he just hasn't been the same, that explosiveness is gone, his shots are completely flat.

I also don't think its the ankle that really giving him his worse, its more like his Knee. His side to side action on defense is still elite, its his leaping ability's, and burst to the basket, his jumpers are completely flat on the middy, which he usually elevates substantially for when he goes for them. He also doesn't have that post up footwork where he pivots around quickly and jumps around the defender, that's a tale tell sign of knees issues I'm sure the ankle is compacting the problem as well. Look at his fadeaway jumper, he usually has great separation when he does his step back middy, he isn't getting it anymore.

He looks fine, I just went back to watch his shot attempts in game 2. This is what he's done his whole career, well, since becoming a 20+ ppg guy.

[AirP.]

:lol:

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The context of this is actually amusing and amazing at the same time. The fact that he attributes our successful run in the playoffs to a higher power entity, as in out of the realm of control for mortals to understand. Almost means Miami Heat as a franchise is this unexplained chaos in his soul, that either tells him that God is real and just being cruel to him or he isn't and thus would have to admit they are actually a good basketball team which is even worse of a conundrum for him to accept. In this way his subconscious is protecting himself from trying to give us any credit.

Bill Simmons been worried of the Heat since January when nobody thought they had a run in them, even with Ryen Russillo telling him there's nothing to be worried about, Simmons worried, it was odd how much he worried about it for months. He even has mentioned lately he has Butler moving into his list as a top 100 NBA player of all time.

It has to hurt to know something for months with everyone telling you you're crazy and then finally have it happen after Boston gave him hope.

[QUIZ]

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The future is so bright

[oreon]

Yes it would be a great thing, but I don't think he is healthy enough to be able to get those types of scoring games for the rest of these finals unfortunately. If he can lock down Murray, and give 18pts-8rb-7ast-3st on amazing defense while controlling the tempo all game youre getting amazing value out of him. Of course these means we need to rely on the rest of the team, to continue to score, hit the three, and make the right plays at the end of games, which means were having to be near perfect from a team standpoint. Its no longer a just a fluke of games, its now become a trend ever since the ankle in New York, he just hasn't been the same, that explosiveness is gone, his shots are completely flat.

I also don't think its the ankle that really giving him his worse, its more like his Knee. His side to side action on defense is still elite, its his leaping ability's, and burst to the basket, his jumpers are completely flat on the middy, which he usually elevates substantially for when he goes for them. He also doesn't have that post up footwork where he pivots around quickly and jumps around the defender, that's a tale tell sign of knees issues I'm sure the ankle is compacting the problem as well. Look at his fadeaway jumper, he usually has great separation when he does his step back middy, he isn't getting it anymore.

He looks fine, I just went back to watch his shot attempts in game 2. This is what he's done his whole career, well, since becoming a 20+ ppg guy.

Something wrong. He's had a massive drop off in production after the first 2 Boston games. It's been 6 games now. We can't just chalk it to him being passive or letting other players cook. You can't go to being the clearly the best player and top 3 player in league to 2nd and sometimes 3rd best player and not a top 10 player. And Jimmy not the type to mentally shrink in the moment, he's been here before and had a massive finals performance even when Heat lost. He has to be hurt, if not what's the other explanation ?

[Shewasfly]

Tyler out for the game, in case that hasn't already been posted. I told yall last game. Looking at those videos, he didn't look even close to coming back to me. Going half speed, not super focused on getting shots up, etc.

If he even returns for game 4 he's gutting it out and its probably a "break in case of emergency" type of thing. So at this point I'm almost hoping its not needed.

[Shewasfly]

I also don't think its the ankle that really giving him his worse, its more like his Knee. His side to side action on defense is still elite, its his leaping ability's, and burst to the basket, his jumpers are completely flat on the middy, which he usually elevates substantially for when he goes for them. He also doesn't have that post up footwork where he pivots around quickly and jumps around the defender, that's a tale tell sign of knees issues I'm sure the ankle is compacting the problem as well. Look at his fadeaway jumper, he usually has great separation when he does his step back middy, he isn't getting it anymore.

He looks fine, I just went back to watch his shot attempts in game 2. This is what he's done his whole career, well, since becoming a 20+ ppg guy.

Something wrong. He's had a massive drop off in production after the first 2 Boston games. It's been 6 games now. We can't just chalk it to him being passive or letting other players cook. You can't go to being the clearly the best player and top 3 player in league to 2nd and sometimes 3rd best player and not a top 10 player. And Jimmy not the type to mentally shrink in the moment, he's been here before and had a massive finals performance even when Heat lost. He has to be hurt, if not what's the other explanation ?

The drop off in production for this amount of time is why I believe it to be an knee thing for him. Can't see an ankle doing that to Jimmy, but his ongoing knee issues flaring up on him? Absolutely.

Just hoping these extra days were enough for him to rest and get the treatment he needed to fight it off. We will need a big game from him tonight, I can just feel it.

[al bondiga]

:lol:

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The context of this is actually amusing and amazing at the same time. The fact that he attributes our successful run in the playoffs to a higher power entity, as in out of the realm of control for mortals to understand. Almost means Miami Heat as a franchise is this unexplained chaos in his soul, that either tells him that God is real and just being cruel to him or he isn't and thus would have to admit they are actually a good basketball team which is even worse of a conundrum for him to accept. In this way his subconscious is protecting himself from trying to give us any credit.

People are always afraid of what they can't understand ... Heat fans are the only ones who can understand why this is happening and Although the run has been highly improvable, It signifies The run of a TRUE winner

against all odds and including everyone... Not something You see often in this Day and age

Bill simmons is probably a fan of somebody who Was defeated among the way... He can't understand what it means to have more heart than his team

[al bondiga]

If we win tonight ...we break their spirit

[IceColdCubano]

Tyler out for the game, in case that hasn't already been posted. I told yall last game. Looking at those videos, he didn't look even close to coming back to me. Going half speed, not super focused on getting shots up, etc.

If he even returns for game 4 he's gutting it out and its probably a "break in case of emergency" type of thing. So at this point I'm almost hoping its not needed.

I agree, put it this way if Miami wins tonight, you can bank him not coming back in game 4 outside of Spo trying to throw something at Denver to gameplan against. If Miami wins game 4 as well, consider him never to hit the floor for the team these playoffs, outside of Denver winning 2 in a row after that forcing a game 7 and Miami just uses him as piece to throw in there and cause chaos on Denver last minute.

[HeatingUp3]

This game is a must win. If we lose then its a tons of pressure to win in game 4. We just need to be who we are and play hard! We need to find the rhythm and defend as the dogs we are.
We need a good to great Jimmy Butler game. I belive.
I think we deserve this title so much. Like no other.
It’s written in the sky I believe

[greg4012]

BIG game tonight.

Miami finally gets back home after being on the road since game 7 in Boston. First finals game in front of the home crowd since 2014.

We've been riding high a little since the great game 2 win, but can't let that impact the focus and drive. Miami needs to maintain control of the game from the jump. I expect Denver to come out hot and bordering on over aggressive. Miami needs to flip that aggression on them and force them into frustrating mistakes.

Keys to the game that I'll be paying particular attention to:

1) The battle to maintain poise and precision. Miami showed a lot of good adjustments to what Denver was doing in game 1. How does Denver respond? Do they overcorrect and try to press--Jokic forcing passes despite not getting doubled, MPJ and Gordon forcing shots off mismatches, etc. I think Denver will keep playing their way and the onus is on Miami to do at least as well at defending Jokic and Murray (and sticking on their shooters) as last game. Miami needs to remain as patient and deliberate on offense as we were for most of game 2. Find the right guy in the right look. Don't settle for the first look that Denver wants to give.

2) Making Jokic work constantly. As much as anything it was crucial to not allow Jokic to impact the game effortlessly. It's MUCH easier for him to get the ball at the elbow, take a dribble and pick apart the defense upon a timely cut or defense flashing help. We need to deny his easy reads and make it so that the right basketball play for him is to work in the paint to create a shot. As we saw in game 2, he's unstoppable and will still get his at a high clip. But, Bam is no chump and makes him exhaust energy and effort to get his points. This has the added benefit of some what alienating some of his teammates that are prone to lose focus when not directly involved. This also slows down the pace of Denver's game. We want them attempting shots late into the shotclock.

On the flip side, Miami needs to force Jokic into as much of the action as possible when he's defending. The more Miami gets him out of the paint, the more our offensive actions can create advantage by exploiting his slow-footedness. We need to protect the ball and make secure passes (can't let him get away with succeeding defensively by swiping at passes). The more Jokic is in the action on defense, the more he's draining his tank.

3) Denver defensive adjustments. For all of the talk about Miami's shooting, it's not just complete chance. Miami is generating clean open 3-point looks because Denver is packing the paint on defense. They have long defenders that are somewhat lumbering and don't want to run all over the court. They don't have a defensive center/rim protector so they prioritize having all of their defenders sag off their man and keep a foot in the paint as often as possible to wall off rim access and show bodies. Miami has been getting and making clean 3-point looks as a result. Also the more 3s Miami makes, the more Jokic adjust his level off screens further from the basket. Miami needs to keep punishing Denver for this. IF Denver adjusts and tries to run us off the 3-point line, we need to relentlessly attack the rim. IMO this would unlock a Jimmy scoring outburst and would likely get Caleb going, as well. We have to punish them for their decisions because I think they're something of a paper tiger on defense.

4) Bench matchup. Last game was close because of Denver's huge run in the 2nd quarter. This was predominantly driven by Denver's bench unit as they all out blitzed us, generated turnovers, and converted everything in transition. We simply CANNOT allow that to happen again. Miami needs to find ways to turn the bench minutes into our advantage. Denver's bench unit switched everything and our offense completely stalled as a result. We need answers here and we NEED to protect the ball. This is where Herro would have been most useful IMO. But, Herro isn't part of game 3 so that doesn't matter. The bench squad is going to need to win some one-on-one matchups in space. We also need to assess what to do about the Zeller minutes. Being at home may just give our bench some more wind in their sails relative to Denver's. But this needs to be intentional by our guys. The twitter thread linked below summarizes it well.

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5) JUST KEEP STROKIN

Watch on YouTube

LET'S GO HEAT!

[AirP.]

I also don't think its the ankle that really giving him his worse, its more like his Knee. His side to side action on defense is still elite, its his leaping ability's, and burst to the basket, his jumpers are completely flat on the middy, which he usually elevates substantially for when he goes for them. He also doesn't have that post up footwork where he pivots around quickly and jumps around the defender, that's a tale tell sign of knees issues I'm sure the ankle is compacting the problem as well. Look at his fadeaway jumper, he usually has great separation when he does his step back middy, he isn't getting it anymore.

He looks fine, I just went back to watch his shot attempts in game 2. This is what he's done his whole career, well, since becoming a 20+ ppg guy.

Something wrong. He's had a massive drop off in production after the first 2 Boston games. It's been 6 games now. We can't just chalk it to him being passive or letting other players cook. You can't go to being the clearly the best player and top 3 player in league to 2nd and sometimes 3rd best player and not a top 10 player. And Jimmy not the type to mentally shrink in the moment, he's been here before and had a massive finals performance even when Heat lost. He has to be hurt, if not what's the other explanation ?

I said this in this forum before Butler played a game, he has 2 modes, distributor mode and scorer mode, he's in distributor mode currently. He's moving fine. Just last year was hurt in the ECF and he didn't move too well, scored 27 in 3 games then dropped 47 in game 6 and 35 in game 7. Even in his first season in Miami people were getting on him for not scoring a lot so in his 5th game he dropped 30 in the first half then quit looking to score. Butler is very unique in this mindset which is fascinating and frustrating because he has the ability to be a scorer.

He did get hurt, he may still feel some pain but you can play through that, especially if you take some pain relief injects like Perkins and Scalabrine slipped up and said he did for game 6 of the ECF last year when they were on tv.

[KingDavid]

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The future is so bright

Getting him would be one hell of an upgrade...