NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 8, 2023

Kevin Love

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. A lot has been said about the underdog mentality on this team. What do you expect as a reaction for Game 4?

KEVIN LOVE: We just have to come out and play better. We know our backs are against the wall. We feel if we play our game, stay true to our concepts, we're going to give ourselves a chance to win.

Q. When you look back on it, what do you see that were issues that they got it done on the boards?

KEVIN LOVE: They sent their bigs to the glass. Porter Jr. went to the glass, Gordon on both sides of the ball, then obviously Jokic with his 20-plus. That is tough to overcome when a team outrebounds you like that.

As far as the deficit goes, I don't know if in a Finals game we've seen it quite like that before. We have to make that something that we're really focusing on, making sure we're checking bodies, getting in the paint, getting rebounds.

We've seen two really big teams in the first and second round that played traditional bigs at the four and five. Also bigger teams. This team definitely poses a threat and makes it tough on you from that perspective. So we have to do a better job.

Q. What does that mean to you going into a game, whatever the intention is?

KEVIN LOVE: I think it's just that understanding what we're doing on both sides of the ball. Being intentional about our game plan. Understanding our concepts. Understanding what we're doing after timeouts, coming into the half, throughout the quarters, staying true to who we are.

I think that's part of being intentional, as well, is understanding who we are, what we want to get done, doing things with intention. When that does happen, your impact is always going to work out for the better.

Q. As a stretch big yourself, Jokic's shooting, it's interesting the challenges that poses, how hard to close, when to close short. He got Bam a couple times with the pump and drive. What kind of challenge does that present?

KEVIN LOVE: He is so creative. Keeps you on your heels in so many different ways because he can shoot it. I know from especially where the game has gone, fours and fives being really good shooters, the game going to a pace and space, that defending that is very tough. It poses a whole 'nother set of problems.

It's such a luxury for them to have him being more than capable when he wants to be elite at shooting the ball from the perimeter. He puts the ball down on the floor, gets to his spots. If you're going to double, he picks you apart. He is, again, a special player from that perspective.

Q. Which aspects of the character of this team make you proud?

KEVIN LOVE: Just who we are on an everyday basis. I think that is something that needs to and will come out tomorrow, is the high-character group that we have and our resiliency and our ability to respond. Those are the things that stick out to me.

Q. You guys shot 37%, got 92 shots. Are you happy with the amount of shots and the quality of the shots? Do you think something has to change?

KEVIN LOVE: I think we had a lot of shots at the rim that were tough, were contested, that we typically make. We'll finish those tomorrow. We'll go out and make an effort. We talked about that intention earlier. Make that very intentional getting to our spots. Playing free, playing a little bit more I guess fluid, if you will, be able to knock down those shots.

I thought we had some contested ones on the offensive end that definitely could have dropped for us. We felt like we could have broken the paint and gotten some swing swings and hockey assists with those. Tomorrow we'll knock those down.

Q. What advice have you given to your teammates now that you're down 2-1 in this series?

KEVIN LOVE: Stay in the saddle, stay the course. That's the biggest thing we can do. We have a game plan that is proven can work. Obviously, you guys have seen it all year with how good they have been and well-coached they have been, the Denver Nuggets. We feel like we have a game plan that if we stick true to it, understanding that the room for error is so small.

If anybody is capable of it, we are. Continue to drill, continue to stay true to our concept, no slip-ups. If we do that, we feel we can give ourselves a chance.