NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 8, 2023

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. Michael, I'm sure you watched the game film from last night in accordance with preparing for tomorrow night and Game 4. During that process, do you find yourself being able to remove yourself and say, wow, I just saw history in the making in Joker and Jamal? Or is it total focus, locked in and adjustments for tomorrow night?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, I mean, as I watched the film, as we watched it as a staff and then with the team, there was nothing about the historical night that it was. We're addressing all the areas where we have to be better. Too many turnovers, too many offensive rebounds.

And so, yeah, it was nothing celebrating the great nights that Nikola and Jamal had; more importantly, it's about how can we find a way to come out tomorrow night and get another one here in Miami heading home to Denver for Game 5.

Q. Michael, Joker seems to figure things out really quickly, almost like a problem solver. He puts the puzzle together. When you're watching film with him, how would you describe that? Is it what we see that he is that problem solver in the film room, as well?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I think it was evident from early on in his career in Denver, is that really high IQ, sees things before they happen, a step ahead of most people. What you love about him is offensively, no matter what is thrown at him, he has an answer. He has seen everything in his eight years that you could conceivably come up with as a defensive game plan. He doesn't fight it.

That's one thing I love about Nikola: He takes what the game brings. That's what makes him special. He is able to make everyone around him better. He is able to read the game plan, read the floor, read the defense and make the right play seemingly every time. There's not many players that are that heady, especially doing it at the stage that he is doing it on right now.

It's really a luxury to have a player that is not only as talented as he is but unselfish and with the IQ that he has.

Q. After Game 2 you weren't happy with Miami's efficiency from the three-point line. Obviously going back to Game 1, as well, you talked about the open shots that you guys yielded. They were a lot less efficient from the three-point line in Game 3. Also, simultaneously you took away some of their efficiency inside the arc. What are some of the defensive adjustments that you made, and in a macro sense, were you happy with the effort defensively last night?

MICHAEL MALONE: Very happy with the defensive effort. You look at the numbers across the board, and our guys were so much more locked in, so much more urgent and aggressive in Game 3 than we were in Game 2.

For me, I can't speak for any other coach, like when you lose a game, the first reaction isn't we have to change the game plan. For me, the first reaction is are we executing the game plan correctly. In Game 2, we didn't. That led to countless mistakes, which led to a lot of points for Miami where we could have been a lot better.

Last night only 11 made threes. The defense was much better. The communication and discipline was much better. That is what I'm most proud about is the buy-in, commitment, urgency that we had. It will have to be even better tomorrow night.

If you go back to Game 1, they made 13 threes in that game. I think six were in the fourth quarter. For three quarters, we did a great job of guarding the three. Then that 21-point lead got knocked down to nine because we opened up the three-point line.

Game 2 was 17, way too many. So I think a big message for our guys is we want them to try to beat us with tough twos and eliminate the threes as much as possible.

Q. Last night after the game it seemed like Jamal was attending to a cut on his left hand. Is he okay?

MICHAEL MALONE: He is fine. Just a floor burn.

Q. You had spoken about this earlier in the series about Nikola's defense. Last night Miami shot 3 for 19 when it was contested by him as a primary help defender, and Bam was 1 for 10. And he had two blocks. Was that his best defensive game? What are you seeing on this stage of how he is doing defensively?

MICHAEL MALONE: When you look at Nikola, so many people just use an eye test to debate whether he is a good defender or not. That is just almost unjust, if you will, because you have to get past the eye test. You have to look at all the things that he does.

He has great awareness, great IQ, great anticipation, tremendous hands to break things up. They shot 34 percent in the restricted area last night. Nikola was a big part of that. Nikola contested 21 shots last night. He had two blocks. He is doing a lot for us to get to this stage in the Finals, and then for us to have a great defensive performance last night, his fingerprints were all over that game.

Is he going to go above the rim and block a shot or pin something to the backboard? He is not going to do that, and stop expecting him to do that. But if you really know what you're looking at, which a lot of people don't, you take a real sense of, okay, this guy is a good defensive player and he is doing it with an IQ and an awareness that a lot of people just don't have.

I thought Nikola was tremendous last night, as was the rest of our group.

Q. When you were assessing Jamal's night and talking about him last night postgame, you said that he had a presence about him that you were able to sense or glean or something to that effect. What did you mean by that? When he has a presence about him, how does that impact it, and what does that tangibly look like?

MICHAEL MALONE: For me, in my conversations with Jamal coming out of Game 2, going into Game 3, just reiterating to him how important he is to this group. Not just a 30-10-10 night, but more than that. He is a leader of this team, and not just vocally but emotionally.

I felt in Game 2 he was there, but I just didn't feel him like I know I have felt him throughout these Playoffs. Being in the moment and feeling his energy, I think that is a big thing for me, reading somebody, seeing where are they at mentally, where are they at physically. Forget making and missing shots. But I could tell from early on in Game 3 last night that Jamal was fully present in the moment and was ready and willing and able to do whatever it took to lead this team to a big win.

From the opening tip to the final buzzer, I felt Jamal was just that.

Q. Michael Porter's minutes were down last night. His shooting has been off. How challenging is it to keep someone like him locked in and feeling that he is contributing even when he might sense the meat and potatoes of his game, he is not helping you with?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well, I think so many people are quick to dismiss people. Michael Porter isn't making shots right now, and we know he is a great shooter. We know what he is capable of. But he had seven rebounds last night, and he had some really good defensive possessions and possessions in which he contested shots and was working on that end.

In this business, if you are just a specialist, we're not for you. We don't like specialists. We like basketball players.

Michael Porter is not making shots. He has to find a way to help impact winning through being an unselfish player on offense, being a defensive-minded player, being somebody that rebounds the basketball. And his shot is going to fall.

If he's taking the right shots and we're generating the right shots for him, I want him, I want KCP, two guys that we know are better than they showed in three games, they've got to keep shooting the ball because that is the only way they're going to get out of that slump.

But we believe in Michael. He is our starting small forward. I have zero doubt he is going to have a very big game coming up here that is going to help us win this championship.

Q. Sticking with shooting, Nikola, I think 47 percent from three in this postseason. Hasn't had a high volume of attempts in this series, but what does the threat of his shooting, knowing he has the ability to shoot, what does that open up for your offense?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, I think it is critical. We have a great offense, period. But when Nikola is making threes, that puts so much more pressure on the opposing defense. I think he has one of the best shot fakes in the NBA.

And for a big guy, he is great at attacking closeouts. If you're shooting 40-plus from three and now teams are really worried about that and they're running you off the line or closing to touch, he is shot faking or driving that closeout.

And now you have a 6-10, 6-11 great passer getting downhill that is going to score. He is an uncanny finisher. He is going to find somebody working behind the defense for a lob, or he is going to kick it out and spray for a wide-open three.

It's not just the three points that he is making, but the pressure and the added layer he is putting against that defense. It's really fun to watch him pick, pop, shoot, oh, we've got to run him off the line, pick, pop, drive to closeout layup, spray or make a play for somebody else.

That is what defines him for me as a truly great player, every night his ability to make every one of his teammates better players.