Dave Hyde: Can Butler and Adebayo match Jokic and Murray? The series depends on it for Heat
Jokic #Jokic
MIAMI — Say what you will about the Heat’s culture and the full roster’s effort lacking in a Game 3 performance that had all the lackluster feel of a back-to-back game in January.
Out-rebounded. Out-hustled. Out-and-outdone by Denver.
Say what you will about all that — and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will say a lot leading into Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals, just as a good coach should.
There’s still a more troublesome truth right now for the Heat: Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have been the best two players through the three games this series. It was no contest Wednesday in Game 3, when they became the first teammates to record triple-doubles in NBA Finals history.
If this narrative continues through Game 4, that’s it for the Heat. They’ll be down 3-1 this series. They’re not beating this team three straight, including two in Denver, no matter how good a story they are or how much they’ve overcome.
So, you can talk about hustle and rebounds and any other number you want — the 3-point shooting is a telltale statistic of mine — and you’re just gumming up the central truth of this series.
If Jokic and Murray keep playing like this, the Heat is sunk. And let’s be honest here: Jokic is a two-time league Most Valuable Player who was voted runner-up this season only because no one wanted to make him a three-time MVP when so few casual fans really see him.
So, Jokic is going to be the best player in this series unless some surprise is coming. He had 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 3. It was his record 10th triple-double of the playoffs. He may look like an oaf on first impression, but he has a golden game that elevates him to an all-time great.
The reason question then, the one the Heat needs a good answer for starting Thursday, is if Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo can be the second- and third- best players out there. If, in short, they outplay Murray. Yes, both of them.
That’s what is demanded. It’s really simple to pick the best team in basketball. Tell me which team has two of the top three players. That’s usually the winner.
It’s great that Duncan Robinson had 10 points in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s Game 2 win, and Caleb Martin scored 26 points in Game 7 against Boston. Winning teams have one or two of the cast members step forward in a nice way like that.
Championship teams win with their best players playing their best. It’s not hard to understand that. The Heat once had The Big Three. San Antonio had the Three Amigos. Golden State had The Splash Brothers. Great teams have that identity.
That’s Jokic and Murray for Denver. And it’s Butler and Adebayo for the Heat. They were good again by the box score in Game 3. Butler had 28 points. Adebayo had 22 points and 17 rebounds. But these weren’t game-changing numbers, as Denver was never challenged in the second half.
The Heat, too, often need an add-on to win, and there wasn’t one coming Wednesday, as they shot a frigid 11 of 35 on 3-pointers.
But we’re at that stage where good in NBA Finals sometimes isn’t good enough. You have to be great, as Butler has been at times, if not lately. He dominated the Milwaukee series. Remember his 56 points in Game 3 and 42 points in Game 4?
He hasn’t been dominant player since. It’s like Playoff Jimmy is missing a gear. Something, it seems, is off. Maybe we’ll find out at series’ end.
Adebayo probably can’t be asked to do much more than he is through three games. He’s the prime pick-setter up top for an offense predicated on him doing that. He’s being aggressive on offense in a manner he sometimes isn’t. He’s Mr. Versatile on defense.
But Butler and Adebayo didn’t cover Wednesay the output of Jokic and Murray (34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists). There is another stat to Murray that Spoelstra will seize on. He had seven turnovers. Maybe that’s something to mine coming up.
Here’s the larger picture: Jokic and Murray aren’t Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum went a couple of games without taking a fourth-quarter shot and Brown couldn’t carry his part of the deal. Boston sunk primarily because they sunk.
The Heat no doubt caused Tatum and Brown to look troubled at times. They haven’t made Jokic look troubled. And Murray? Can Butler and Adebayo outplay him?
So much talk will be about the Heat playing harder and closer to their identity. That’s needed. But don’t overthink all this. Butler and Adebayo need to find another gear if the Heat get four wins. If Jokic and Murray remain the best two players of this series, Denver wins.
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