Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and the Miami Heat tied the NBA Finals by overcoming a monster effort from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday.
Max Strus scored 14 and Duncan Robinson had 10 for the Heat, who had a huge early lead, then dipped as low as 15 before regaining the lead in the fourth. Miami outscored Denver 36-25 in the final period, erasing an eight-point deficit going into the final frame.
And even then, they had to dig deep to finish it.
Jokic scored 41 points and went 16 of 28 from the floor, the last of those shots from 4 feet with 36 seconds remaining to bring the Nuggets within three.
Denver elected to take no fouls on Miami’s next possession. Butler missed a 3-pointer, and with a chance to tie, Jamal Murray missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver, while Aaron Gordon had 12 points and Bruce Brown scored 11.
Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami. Denver had been 11-0 with a double-digit lead in the playoffs.
Strus, who was 0-for-10 in Game 1, hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter of Game 2. Butler made a jumper with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter to put Miami up 21-10, tying the second. biggest lead any opponent had built in Denver thus far in these playoffs.
In an instant, it was gone, and then some.
The Nuggets outscored Miami 32-11 in the next 9 minutes, turning a double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead thanks to an absolute barrage of 3-pointers.
In a span of 70 seconds early in the second quarter, Denver hit four 3-pointers, more points than Miami had in that entire 9-minute stretch, and they came from four different players: Bruce Brown, then Jeff Green, then Murray, then Gordon.
Boom, boom, boom and boom. Murray scored five straight points to end the streak, and Denver led 44-32 when it ended. The Heat managed to close the gap to 57-51 at the half, but whatever good feeling Miami had after the first few minutes was gone.
From there, the fight was on. Miami didn’t let Denver get away, then found a way in the fourth.