NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 4, 2023

Kevin Love

Miami Heat

Game 2: Postgame

Miami Heat 111, Denver Nuggets 108

Q. What was it like for you guys to get that hot start tonight and for you, to be back in the starting lineup, to see the shooters come back to life?

KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, we felt like last game obviously was a tough shooting night for us. Guys that typically at the very least hit a few more shots, it just wasn’t here for us in Game 1. I love seeing Max, Gabe, Duncan and Caleb, all of those guys stepping up and shooting the ball with confidence. It was a beautiful thing to see. Getting off to that hot start and consistent, fluid start for us was great.

It’s going to be a hard-fought series. They say the series starts when an away team wins, and now it becomes a best-of-five. But now we get to go back home with the series split. So we can tip our hats to that and feel good about that.

Q. What was it like watching Duncan in the fourth go on that 8-0 run of his?

KEVIN LOVE: I love it, man. He can be one of those guys who just breaks a game open. We’ve seen that from him throughout these playoffs. His consistency and confidence has been there.

When you try to put him in a box with how his game is, he just continues to grow within it. He does a lot of things that people don’t know he has. They see him as a shooter, but he is cutting to the hoop, he’s putting the ball on the floor, he’s hitting a drop pass to Bam and he’s using his size to get to the rim on those cuts and put the ball down.

It’s a beautiful thing to see. We needed all of those contributions tonight.

Q. Jokic last game seemed like more of a facilitator, tonight more of a scorer. Is there anything to game planning for him?

KEVIN LOVE: It’s so hard to game-plan for him. He’s such basketball savant. He’s brilliant out there. You’re never going to stop him; you just try to slow him down.

If you take some of the passes away, he’s going to go score. You try to take that away and send a double team, he’s going to pass the ball. He’s going to bury you under the hoop if you switch. He’s just so smart that, you just try to make it tough on him and take the other X factors out of the game.

Slow Murray down as well. They get to that pick-and-roll that is so devastating. Probably the most devastating one-two punch in the league. That’s why they’re here.

We know we’re going to have our hands full for the rest of the series. At least for tonight, getting that win was huge for us.

Q. How much of a factor is Coach Spoelstra?

KEVIN LOVE: He’s a huge factor. Michael Malone is a hell of a coach too. But Coach Spo, having been here and having a storied and decorated career, it’s a beautiful thing to have him on that sideline.

That trust works both ways with us. It’s a beautiful thing. You look over there during timeouts, halftime, pregame, prep, all that stuff is a ten out of ten with our coaching staff and Coach Spo.