Takeaways, details, reaction from Heat’s Game 1 NBA Finals loss to Denver

Takeaways from the Nuggets’ 104-93 win against the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night in Denver:

▪ The Heat’s lethal three-point shooting didn’t carry over from the Boston series. And a dismal performance from distance couldn’t be overcome on a night that Nikola Jokic was typically superb, Jimmy Butler was subpar offensively and the Heat attempted a measly two free throws, fewest ever in an NBA playoff game.

The Heat opened 5 for 20 on threes, was 7 for 27 through three quarters (after which Denver led by 21) and finished 13 for 39 (33.3 percent). But two of those made threes came late, with the outcome settled.

Max Strus had a nightmarish night, shooting 0 for 10 and missing all nine of his three-point attempts in 20 scoreless minutes.

Caleb Martin — who has shot 56.6 percent overall in these playoffs and 43.8 percent on threes — finished 1 for 7 in 25 minutes, including 1 for 2 on threes, and scored his only basket with four minutes left in the third.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there’s no need to worry about either players’ confidence.

“They don’t get sick at sea; they’re ignitable,” Spoelstra said.

Duncan Robinson - who entered shooting 44.6 percent on threes in postseason - shot 1 for 6, including 1 for 5 on threes.

And many of the misses from those three players weren’t closely defended.

“We had some good clean looks from the three-point line,” Spoelstra said.

Gabe Vincent (19 points/5 for 10 on threes), Kyle Lowry (11 points/3 for 6 on threes) and Haywood Highsmith (18 points/2 for 4 on threees) did what they could, and Bam Adebayo had his best offensive night of the playoffs (26 points), but it wasn’t nearly enough.

To have any chance to win this series, the Heat needs to shoot threes like it did in the first round against Milwaukee (45 percent) or the Eastern Conference finals against Boston (43.4).

Instead, the Heat shot threes like it did in the regular season (34.4 percent) and the Knicks series (30.6).

The Heat could survive that three-point ineffectiveness against the Knicks because New York also often shot poorly, aside from Jalen Brunson.

But Denver is too good and too efficient offensively for Miami to overcome mediocre or poor shooting overall, and a quiet night from Butler.

Denver shot 51.3 percent from the field, Miami 40.6 percent.

“We had too many possessions where we didn’t work to get the possession on our terms,” Spoelstra said. “You have to credit them with their size and really protecting the paint, bringing a third defender. It’s going to require more. We’ll see what we can do better.”

Butler didn’t approach his 28.5 postseason scoring average. He scored only 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting through three quarters, then took just one shot in the fourth, closing with 13 points (6 for 14), with seven rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes.

Butler’s 13 points were his fewest in these playoffs. Aaron Gordon and others did a good job keeping Butler from getting into any rhythm.

The Nuggets spoke repeatedly this week about needing to keep Butler off the line, and Butler didn’t shoot a single free throw after averaging 9.1 attempts per game through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

“Me with no free throws, that’s all on myself,” Butler said. “We shot a lot of jump shots instead of putting pressure on the rim, getting layups, getting to the free throw line. Got to get more layups and free throws. We’ve got to attack the rim a lot more, myself included.”

Highsmith was the only Heat player who took any free throws, making both of them.

“Our guys did a great job of defending without fouling,” Denver coach Mike Malone said.

Conversely, Denver took 20 free throws, making 16.

And Nuggets stars showed no rust, even after a nine-day beak since completing their sweep of the Lakers.

Jamal Murray shot 11 for 22 on a 26-point night and dished out 10 assists.

And then there was the greatness of Jokic, who had his ninth triple-double of the postseason: 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

▪ Adebayo had a terrific night offensively, snapping out of a slump. But Jokic was brilliant, tormenting the Heat with his passing early and his scoring late.

Adebayo shot 13 for 25 on a 26-point night — an encouraging sign after shooting 8 for 26 in the final two games against Boston. The 25 shots were his most in a playoff game, and he added 13 rebounds and 5 assists.

“I made the shots I usually shoot,” he said.

Adebayo opened 10 for 15, showing much more decisiveness and much better touch than he did against Boston. Adebayo historically has struggled against Jokic, so this was a confidence-building night for the Heat’s center.

“When Bam is making shots, he makes everybody’s job a lot easier,” Butler said.

The Nuggets played him differently than the Celtics did during the final four games of their series.

Boston made him play in a crowd, and often with his back to the basket.

The Nuggets played the pick-and-roll differently, giving Adebayo the room to face up on his jump shot. And Adebayo hit his midrange shot consistently.

“He had good opportunities in his sweet spot and some good opportunities at the rim,” Spoelstra said.

As Vincent said: “The way they guard, he tended to be open with some of our sets tonight. He made some good reads.”

As for Jokic, he didn’t even take a shot until he stripped Cody Zeller and hit a layup to end the first quarter. But he still had his usual enormous impact, dishing out 10 assists in the first half.

After taking only five shots through three quarters, Jokic took seven in a 12-point fourth quarter and finished just narrowly below his 29.9 postseason scoring average. He shot 8 for 12 from the field and 10 for 12 from the line.

After the Heat closed to within 10, Jokic made a beautiful pass to Jeff Green to stop a Heat run, then hit a layup to push the lead to 16.

After the Heat again closed to within 10, Jokic hit two jumpers, extending the margin to 14 and torpedoing Heat comeback hopes.

As ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy said late in the third quarter, Jokic “dominated the game taking five shots.”

Jokic’s 14 assists were the most by a center in NBA Finals history.

“We’ve got to be physical with him when we can and attack him on offense,” Vincent said.

Murray or Jokic scored or assisted on 64 of the Nuggets’ first 79 points. Per ESPN, they’re the second pair of teammates to each have 25 points and 10 assists in a FInals game, joining Magic Johnson and James Worthy in 1987.

▪ Even on a night when Adebayo was impactful, Denver’s size was problematic early and the Heat was too often left at a size deficit on switches and in transition.

The Nuggets have a size advantage at every frontcourt position, and 6-8 Gordon exposed that early.

But this wasn’t merely a case of Gordon scoring over 6-5 Martin. Gordon often found himself defended by guards or small forwards on cross-switches and repeatedly made Miami pay, forging his way into the paint and scoring 12 first quarter points on 6 for 8 shooting. Gordon finished with 16 points on 7 for 10 shooting.

“They came out with a lot of physicality and we have to be able to match that,” Butler said. “We’ll adjust and do some things very differently. If we guard a little better, this game is different. We have to make sure we’re challenging everything at the rim.”

Lack of size hasn’t hindered the Heat much in this playoff run, but it did in Game 1, even though Denver’s rebounding advantage was narrow (44-43).

At small forward, the 6-10 Michael Porter Jr. has a three-inch height advantage over Butler and capitalized on that to pull down 12 rebounds.

At center, the 6-11 Jokic has a two-inch height advantage over Adebayo.

▪ Highsmith made the most of his playing time, and Spoelstra bypassed using Kevin Love for the third game in a row.

Martin started ahead of Love for the third consecutive game, and Gordon made the Heat pay by attacking Miami in the paint early.

Spoelstra opted for the 6-11 Cody Zeller ahead of the 6-8 Love during the first-half minutes when Adebayo rested.

But the Heat was outscored by five in Zeller’s eight scoreless minutes, which featured three rebounds and a turnover.

Spoelstra went nine deep through three quarters, playing Robinson, Kyle Lowry, Zeller and Highsmith off the bench.

And Highsmith was very good, scoring 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and adding two rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. He was so good that Spoelstra played him throughout the fourth quarter.

“Those were inspiring minutes,” Spoelstra said. “He has kept himself ready.”

▪ Help is on the way.

A return is near for guard Tyler Herro, who has been sidelined since sustaining a fractured right hand in the playoff opener against Milwaukee.

As ESPN reported, Herro could return as early as Game 2 if his hand responds well to contact work in the next two days.

Otherwise, the expectation is he will return for Game 3 on Wednesday in Miami, barring a setback.

He could take minutes from Robinson, or Strus if Strus’ three-point struggles continue beyond Game 1.