Denver beats Heat to take 3-1 lead in NBA Finals

If the Heat is to somehow win its fourth NBA title, the most improbable playoff run in franchise history will now require perhaps the most improbable Finals conclusion in modern NBA history.

The Denver Nuggets look like the better team, a suspicion reinforced by their 108-95 victory at the Kaseya Center on Friday night. The Nuggets took a 3-1 lead in the series and can capture their first NBA title by winning Game 5 on Monday in Denver.

The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a Finals, against Golden State. But that team had LeBron James.

“I told the guys you probably shouldn’t sleep any amount of time tonight,” Erik Spoelstra said. “I don’t think anyone will. We’ve done everything the hard way. All we’re going to focus on is getting this thing back to the 305.”

Ahead by four at halftime, the Nuggets took control with another commanding third quarter that pushed their lead to 13 heading to the fourth.

The Heat then had a chance, after Nikola Jokic went to the bench with his fifth foul with Denver ahead 86-76 with 9:23 left.

The Heat closed to within 86-81, but Jamal Murray hit a big three and Aaron Gordon hit a basket, and the Heat couldn’t muster enough offense.

“Every time we felt we got it to six or eight, they were able to push it to 12,” Spoelstra said. “That was certainly a frustrating part of the game.”

By the time Jokic returned with 4:09 left, the Nuggets were up nine.

The Jokic absence was the Heat’s chance to make its run, and Miami couldn’t do it during those five minutes and 15 seconds.

The Nuggets then sealed it late, with three baskets from Bruce Brown and a three from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Gordon was a major problem for Miami, scoring 27 points on 11 for 15 shooting, while adding seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. He continually seized on size mismatches, doing much of his work in the basket area while adding three three-pointers.

Jimmy Butler (25 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists) did what he could, scoring seven in the fourth.

But Bam Adebayo shot just 2 for 7 in the second half.

Adebayo (20 points, 11 rebounds) closed 8 for 19 from the field after making only 7 of 21 shots in Game 3. He also committed seven turnovers.

Ultimately, the Heat couldn’t overcome 16 turnovers, poor three point shooting (8 for 25, 32 percent) and a dozen or so defensive breakdowns in the second half.

Miami held Jokic (23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) and Murray (15 points, 5 for 17 shooting) well below their usual production, but Murray was great as a playmaker, with 12 assists. And Gordon’s offense pushed Denver over the top.

Brown, the former Miami Hurricane, also made a big contribution (21 points, 8 for 11 shooting), including a jumper and free throw that put the Nuggets up 11 with 2:36 left and then another basket a bit later.

And the Heat again couldn’t make enough shots.

Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have had some very good moments throughout this playoff run, but both were non-factors offensively for the second game in a row.

Vincent shot 1 for 6 on a two-point night after shooting 2 for 10 and scoring seven in Game 3.

Strus shot 0 for 4 on a scoreless night after shooting 1 for 7 and scoring just three in Game 4. He was yanked for good five minutes into the third quarter, replaced by Kyle Lowry.

Duncan Robinson again played well, with 12 points on 5 for 7 shooting, playing ahead of Strus throughout the fourth quarter.

Lowry (13 points) and Kevin Love (12 points) - two Heat players with past championships - gave Miami a lift, with Love scoring nine during the third to keep Denver from taking control.

Love played 18 minutes, with Spoelstra opting to go with Caleb Martin (11 points, 5 rebounds) instead in the fourth quarter, as he usually does.

Love shot 3 for 5 on threes but the other Heat players shot 5 for 20.

After shooting 31 percent on threes in Game 3, Miami finished at 32 percent in Game 4.

And Miami’s 15 turnovers led to 17 Denver points.

Spoelstra cited untimely turnovers “and makeable shots we didn’t make when the game was in the balance, during those [key] moments. The advantages were missed the most in those minutes.”

Jokic shot just 8 for 19, but it hardly mattered.

The Heat did a much better job playing physically against Murray, sometimes trapping him on pick and rolls. But Murray thrived as a playmaker.

With Denver ahead 76-68 with 2:07 left in the third, the game was delayed for more than five minutes in the third quarter after Adebayo bent the rim on a missed dunk.

Here’s how the night unfolded:

The Nuggets surged ahead 18-11 to start the game, as Miami opened 5 for 14 from the field and committed five early turnovers - one more than the Heat had in all of Game 2. But Butler scored eight points in a 10-2 run to close the quarter, leaving the Heat ahead 21-20 after one.

Gordon seized on mismatches on Heat switches throughout the second, scoring 15 in the quarter. Denver opened up a nine-point lead, but two thunderous dunks from Adebayo and good work from Butler (14 in the first half) and Lowry (13 in the first half) helped the Heat close to within 55-51 at the break.

Strus and Vincent went scoreless on combined 0 for 6 shooting in the first half; foul trouble again limited Vincent, who picked up his third with 5:26 left in the second quarter.

Denver, which outscored the Heat 29-20 in the third quarter of Game 3, again took control after halftime, outscoring Miami 31-22 in the third.

Offensively, Miami shot just 8 for 21 and committed four turnovers in that third quarter.

Defensively, the Nuggets slipped screens and cut to the basket repeatedly in the third, seizing on Heat defensive breakdowns. During another sequence, Miami left Jokic alone for a three.

Love kept the Heat afloat with nine points in the third, but Butler and Adebayo each shot 1 for 4 in the third quarter.

The Heat began the fourth on an 8-0 run but could never sustain anything during the minutes when Jokic was on the bench.

And so this glorious Heat playoff run now stands one loss from ending bitterly, with a second Finals defeat in four years.