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NBA Finals: Miami Heat must take season-defining defiance into Game 2 against Denver Nuggets

Miami Heat have defied the odds and overcome adversity time and again to get to the NBA Finals, but they'll have to do so to an even greater extent against the Denver Nuggets; Game 2 is live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event, watch on Monday morning from 1am

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Jaydee Dyer takes a closer look at the stars and stats heading into Game Two of the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat were never meant to be in this position.

Oddsmakers gave the eventual Eastern Conference champions less than a one per cent chance to win the Larry O'Brien at the start of the NBA Playoffs just seven weeks ago.

Now, they're in the biggest series of them all once again and face a Denver Nuggets team heavily fancied to win it all on the franchise's first appearance in the NBA Finals. Michael Malone's team is a juggernaut, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals after finishing top of the conference during the regular season. Although he didn't win it for a third consecutive year, Nikola Jokic has played at MVP-calibre level once again and now has a fully fit Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to back him up as well as a much-improved supporting cast.

They showcased their might in Game 1 as Nikola Jokic operated as the galactic centre-point around which the rest of the Nuggets stars orbited, and his triple-double (27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists) was the work of a superstar who has all the weapons to do it himself but focuses on ensuring his team gets going above any personal numbers.

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Take a look at Nikola Jokic's 27 point triple-double in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat

It's going to be a tough mountain to climb for the Heat to overcome the best offensive big man in basketball history and Denver's best-ever team collectively – but in even getting a roster comprised primarily of veterans and undrafted players to this stage of the postseason, Erik Spoelstra has once again masterminded a run at all the marbles for the Heat – this time in defiance of, quite literally, the longest of odds.

For Miami to engineer a comeback in this series, judging on the evidence of Game 1, looks tough – but such is the beauty of a seven-game series. If they can somehow steal Game 2 against the altitude in Colorado, then momentum is all of a sudden with the ballclub from South Beach.

They also have one player, who although he won't see the floor, has experienced everything that the NBA has to throw at you.

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Udonis Haslem – who is both a veteran, the veteran of the league in fact, and an undrafted player – has been through the lot in his 20 seasons with the Miami Heat. On that list: Game 1 losses in the NBA Finals.

He's seen lots of those - six of them, actually, in seven tries during his Heat career. Being down 1-0 in the finals against the Denver Nuggets is not optimal, but Haslem knows it doesn't doom Miami's chances, either. All three of his championship rings came in series where the Heat lost a finals opener.

And that will be the message for three days, all the way until tip-off of Game 2 on Sunday night.

"It can be done," Haslem said.

He's right. And by now, the Heat have just come to expect that nothing they want will come easily.

A season filled with adversity

Virtually the entire season has been topsy-turvy for the Heat, and evidently, the jagged path is the one they're going to take all the way to the end. A 104-93 loss in Game 1 on Thursday night came when Miami shot poorly, struggled big-time from 3-point range until a late flurry and shot only two free throws - the fewest, the NBA said, by any team in any of the 4,359 games in league postseason history.

"That's how we've been all year," said Heat guard Max Strus, who went 0 for 10 from the field - 0 for 9 from 3-point range - in Game 1. "We're battle-tested. We've been through a lot of down moments this year. So, we know how to deal with it and we'll be ready."

The list of adverse moments the Heat have endured this season is lengthy, to say the least.

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Highlights of Game 1 between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals

They didn't get over the .500 mark for the first time until about a week before Christmas. They sputtered for much of the year, never able to put a long string of wins together. There have been 45 different winning streaks of at least five games in the NBA this season, by 21 different teams - and the Heat weren't one of them. They lost a play-in game to Atlanta, trailed in the elimination play-in game late against Chicago, nearly blew a 3-0 lead against Boston in the East final … and keep finding ways to make it right.

"That's just how our path has been," said Caleb Martin, who was 1 for 7 in Game 1. "That's everybody's comfort zone. We're never worried in situations like this. People might be saying it's going to be tough or whatever the case may be, but we don't think like that. We're going to be ready."

There will also be a history lesson before Sunday night. Haslem will certainly be among the professors.

In the 2006 finals, Miami lost the first two games in Dallas, woke up after Game 2 to learn that city was already planning the parade and won the next four games. In 2012, Miami lost Game 1 in Oklahoma City by 11 points - just like Thursday's margin - and won the next four games. And in 2013, Miami rallied after a Game 1 loss to beat San Antonio in a seven-game classic, the series that was highlighted by Ray Allen's game-tying and season-saving 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6.

Like Haslem was saying, it can be done.

"I feel like we'll bounce back," said center Bam Adebayo, who led the Heat with 26 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1.

It's unlikely that Miami only gets to the line two times in Game 2. It's unlikely that Strus will go 0 for 10 again Sunday. It's unlikely that Jimmy Butler will score only 13 points again in Game 2; that's what he had in Game 1, or 15 points below his average for the playoffs coming into the finals.

Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo, center, is presented with the the Larry Bird Trophy for most valuable player after the Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals Monday, May 29, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Image: Jimmy Butler is presented with the the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP after the Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals

"I think whenever we watch this film, it's going to look way worse than it really is," Butler said. "But that's the only way you're going to learn from it."

Even if all those offensive numbers rise, it still doesn't guarantee anything. Denver will make adjustments as well, just like Miami.

But if this adverse season has taught Miami anything, it's that they're comfortable while in trouble.

"That's what you expect," Heat coach Spoelstra said. "You don't expect it to be easy when you get to this final round. This is a great challenge. It's going to require more. We will get to work and see what we can do better, what we can do harder, what we can do with more effort, what we can do with more focus, etc."

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series takes place in Denver on Sunday, early hours of Monday morning UK time. You can watch it unfold live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event from 1am, or for free on Sky Sports' YouTube channel.

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