Coach Malone is not letting his guard down.
The Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat will play Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals at the Mile High City on Friday (5pm ET) at the Denver Ball Arena.
No. 1 seed Denver in the West and No. 8 seed Miami in the East meet in the Finals. Reflecting the regular season standings of both teams, the Finals predictions were one-sided. The majority of experts favoured Denver.안전놀이터
Game 1 went the way of the experts. Cheered on by their home fans, the Nuggets never relinquished the lead and pounded Miami. After the game was heavily in favour of the Nuggets, Miami made a late push but couldn’t change the tide.
A seemingly predictable Game 1 win. But Denver head coach Mike Malone wasn’t caught off guard, and he had a strong message for his players after Game 1 to guard against complacency.
“I told them not to read the news, not to listen to the Salmans on the radio and TV saying this series is over, because we haven’t accomplished anything yet. We’ve only won one game,” he said.
He had good reason. Malone pointed to the wide-open opportunities Miami had in Game 1 and said the team had a lot to work on. He also expressed frustration with the pick-and-roll defence.
“I don’t think we did a great job in Game 1. I rewatched the game and Miami made just five of 16 wide-open shots. The fact that they got 16 three-pointers is a problem. If you think Max Struth is going to miss all nine of his threes again or Duncan Robinson is going to continue to shoot poorly, you’re wrong.”
“I told the guys to keep the excitement in check. We won the first game, but there are so many things we can do better. If we play at a better level, we have a chance to win Game 2. Our pick-and-roll defence was terrible in Game 1 and we gave up 11 offensive rebounds. So there’s a lot of things we need to fix. I’m not worried about what they’re going to do, I’m worried about what we need to do better to get Game 2.”
Denver began the playoffs by taking the first two games of the series, both at home. Will the Nuggets win Game 2 of the Finals? If Malone’s preparation is up to scratch, Denver fans can expect a win in Game 2.