NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 4, 2023

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Game 2: Postgame

Heat 111, Nuggets 108

Q. Coach, can you kind of figure out, why do you think your starters that weren't Joker struggled scoring?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I don't think that's the biggest question.

Q. Was it the defense?

MICHAEL MALONE: Let's talk about effort. This is NBA Finals, we are talking about effort; that's a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn't play well. We didn't play well. Tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami. Start of the third quarter, they scored 11 points in two minutes and 10 seconds. We had guys out there that were just whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off, this is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing.

I asked the team, I asked them, you guys tell me why they lost, and they knew the answer. Miami came in here and outworked us, and we were by far our least disciplined game of these 16 or 17 playoff games, whatever it is now. So many breakdowns. They exploited every one of our breakdowns and scored. If we're going to try to go down there and regain control of this series and get home-court advantage back, we're going to have to outwork Miami, which we didn't do tonight, and our discipline is going to have to be off the charts.

Q. You mentioned the breakdowns. Miami shot 17-of-35 from three. How many of them were defensive breakdowns? You seemed to call timeout on several of them, maybe had some miscommunications?

MICHAEL MALONE: Oh, there's no maybe. There was miscommunication, game-plan breakdowns, personnel breakdowns. There were guys like Max Strus -- I said it after Game 1, he's 0-for-9 in Game 1, you know he's going to make shots. He got off to a really hot start tonight. Cooled down a little bit. He gets 10 threes off, Gabe Vincent six off, Kevin Love gets six off, Duncan Robinson three off. Those are guys that we are supposed to have a heightened awareness to.

As I mentioned after Game 1, the fact that they got 16 wide-open threes was concerning. They didn't make them. So, we got lucky in Game 1. Tonight, they made them.

So, it was definitely a breakdown in communication. It was definitely a breakdown in our game plan, and like I said, we just were not nearly as disciplined as you need to be in the NBA Finals.

Q. It seemed like you had some success earlier in the game smothering that Bam-Robinson DHO and it gave you more trouble in the fourth quarter. What changed in the way you were executing it?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I'd have to watch the film. Give them credit, they played with tremendous pace, and they never let up. So, we've got to make sure we're doing a better job of getting our energy up and not letting them outwork us and create separation and kind of put us in a spin cycle, which they did quite a few times.

Fourth quarter defense, I thought for three quarters tonight actually the defense was pretty good. I believe going into the fourth quarter they were shooting 43 percent.

But in the fourth quarter, you give up 36 points on 69 percent from the field. That's not going to cut it. That's not going to cut it.

Q. How did they make everything such a struggle after that big run in that first, second quarter? Looked like they were content to let Jokic score and take away everyone around him. How did they make everything such a struggle on the offensive end?

MICHAEL MALONE: I thought the way Nikola closed that third quarter was tremendous. Kind of got us a little bit of rhythm going into that fourth quarter, gave us a little bit of breathing room and then they started the fourth quarter 13-2. To me the wheels really fell off to start that fourth quarter. They were getting whatever they wanted, threes, layups, and that allowed them once again to sit back in their zone offense, slow the game down, and we had a hard time getting stops, and then we had a hard time getting made baskets on the other end.

Our defense has to be a hell of a lot better. That's two fourth quarters, Game 1 and Game 2, where our fourth-quarter defense has been nonexistent.

Q. Sticking with the three-point shooting, how much higher do pick-up points have to be against Miami's three-point shooters following up in the series?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, you have to understand who you're guarding, KYP (know your personnel) discipline. So, if you're guarding a Duncan Robinson, a Gabe Vincent, a Kevin Love, a Max Strus, you have to guard them at the four-point line. I believe, talking about lack of discipline, I think we fouled at least three jump shooters tonight, then you have to have the discipline to contest without fouling -- getting a hand up, giving them a place to land, whatever it may be.

Jamal had a great look at the end. I told our guys, if we would have won this game tonight, we would have stole one, and it didn't happen. The shot didn't go in, and we lose by three points.

Yeah, the three-point line is a huge concern coming in, the No. 1 three-point shooting team in these Playoffs and did a decent job in Game 1 by the numbers, but tonight they buried us.

Q. You've been so good at home in these Playoffs. Everybody talks about the altitude, all that kind of stuff. How surprised were you that they had the final closing kick there tonight?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, one, I think the altitude, too much is made of that. I think -- Miami has been here for probably like a week now, so they're acclimated. So, I really don't think that's the reason why we've won games at home. I think our players deserve credit. Our fans deserve credit.

But yeah, they came out in that fourth quarter with a huge sense of desperation, and we didn't match that. Once again, 13-2 start, they kind of take control of the game, and just our inability or unwillingness to get stops and have a defensive mindset in the fourth quarter was very problematic. Again, the numbers speak for themselves -- 36 points in the fourth quarter on 69 percent is going to make it really hard to win a game in the NBA Finals.

Q. You said Jamal got a good look at it. Did you at all consider calling a timeout or do you like it when it's in transition and you can scramble the defense and catch them a little bit?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, I think it's dependent upon the situation. Their half-court defense was giving us a lot of trouble in that fourth quarter, and you take a timeout, you let them get set, you let them review whatever play they think we're going to run, and there's a great chance that we don't get a quality shot like Jamal got, which was on line, and from my perspective, looked like it had a great chance of going in, and we've seen Jamal make shots like that before.

Some nights, yeah, we can take the timeout. Other nights give our guys the freedom to get out and run. But with how well they were guarding in that fourth quarter and how hard it was for us to generate great looks, I felt in that transition we were going to have the best chance to get the look that we wanted.

Q. Jokic took 28 shots and had a postseason-low four assists . Was that something Miami did defensively or just guys missing shots?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, probably a combination. We have to give them credit. We scored 108 points, 52 (percent) from the field, 14 turnovers for 19 points. That's a concern in the fourth quarter, 4-for-10. But I trust Nikola. He's going to read the game. He's going to read how he's being guarded, and he's also going to pick his spots where he knows regardless of how he's being guarded, we need him to score and be aggressive and look to score.

Whether it's 41 points, only four assists, or it's 25 points and 15 assists, Nikola, one thing I trust about him is he's going to make the right read time and time again.