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The Miami Heat roar back in Game 2 to tie the Denver Nuggets in NBA Finals

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Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent (2) moves the ball against the Denver Nuggets during the first half of Game 2 of basketball's NBA Finals, Sunday, June 4, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER โ€“ Staring down a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, as the visitors in a hostile arena where no road team had prevailed in more than two months, the Miami Heat decided to do what theyโ€™ve done throughout the postseason.

They found a way. Against all odds. Again.

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The Heat tied the NBA Finals and had to overcome a monster 41-point effort from Nikola Jokic to do it. Gabe Vincent scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each had 21 and Heat beat the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in Game 2 on Sunday night.

โ€œOur guys are competitors,โ€ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. โ€œThey love these kind of moments.โ€

Evidently.

They were down by as many as 15 points, down eight going into the fourth, and those numbers signified they were going to lose. Denver was 11-0 in these playoffs when leading by double digits at any point in a game, and 37-1 this season overall when leading by at least eight going into the fourth.

The Heat didn't care. They outscored Denver 17-5 in the first 3:17 of the fourth to take the lead for good, eventually went up by 12, then frittered most of it away and had to survive a 3-point try by Jamal Murray as time expired.

โ€œThis is the finals,โ€ Adebayo said. โ€œWe gutted one out.โ€

Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami.

Max Strus scored 14 and Duncan Robinson had 10 โ€” all of them in the fourth โ€” for the Heat, who had a big early lead, then got down by as many as 15. They had no answers for Jokic, who was 16 of 28 from the floor, the last of those shots a 4-footer with 36 seconds left to get the Nuggets within three.

Denver elected not to foul on the ensuing Miami possession and it paid off. Butler missed a 3, and with a chance to tie, Murray missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

โ€œI just contested it," Butler said. "Pretty glad that he missed it.โ€

Denver lost at home for the first time since March 30, and for the first time in 10 home playoff games this year. And just as he did after a Game 1 win, Nuggets coach Michael Malone sounded the alarm after a Game 2 loss.

โ€œLetโ€™s talk about effort," Malone said. โ€œI mean, this is the NBA Finals and weโ€™re talking about effort. Thatโ€™s a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn't play well. We didn't play well. ... This is not the preseason. This is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals.โ€

Murray had 18 points and 10 assists for Denver, while Aaron Gordon had 12 points and Bruce Brown scored 11.

โ€œThey just played hard, and like I said, it was more discipline,โ€ Murray said. โ€œItโ€™s defeating when youโ€™re giving up mistake after mistake, and itโ€™s not them beating you, youโ€™re giving them open dunks or open shots. Thatโ€™s tough to come back from.โ€

Strus, who was 0 for 10 in Game 1, had four 3-pointers in the first quarter of Game 2. Butler made a jumper with 4:56 left in the opening quarter to put Miami up 21-10, tying the second-biggest lead any opponent had built in Denver so far in these playoffs.

In a flash, it was gone โ€” and then some.

The Nuggets outscored Miami 32-11 over the next 9 minutes, turning the double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead thanks to an absolute 3-point barrage.

In a 70-second span early in the second quarter, Denver got four 3s โ€” more points than Miami got in that entire 9-minute stretch โ€“ and they came from four different players: Brown, then Jeff Green, then Murray, then Gordon.

Boom, boom, boom, and boom. Murray had five straight points to end the flurry, and Denver led 44-32 when it was over. It looked like everything was going Denver's way.

Miami insisted otherwise. And for the 44th time this season, the Heat won a game by five points or less. None of them was bigger than this one.

โ€œWhen it comes down to the wire,โ€ Vincent said, โ€œwe're strangely comfortable.โ€

TIP-INS

Heat: Miami changed its starting lineup, with Kevin Love back in the opening five and Caleb Martin โ€” who missed practice Saturday with an illness โ€“ coming off the bench. โ€ฆ The Heat got their 13th win of these playoffs, breaking a tie with the 1999 New York Knicks for the most ever by a No. 8 seed.

Nuggets: Jokic became the 14th different player in NBA history to score at least 41 in a finals loss. ... Denver hadnโ€™t lost a game since May 7 โ€” four weeks ago. โ€ฆ Nuggets legends Alex English, LaPhonso Ellis (who actually ended his NBA career with Miami) and David Thompson were among those in attendance.

HERRO UPDATE

Injured Heat guard Tyler Herro played 2-on-2 on Saturday as he continues his efforts to try to return from a broken hand at some point in these finals โ€” but remained out. Herro got hurt in the first half of Game 1 of Round 1 at Milwaukee. His status for Game 3 is unclear.

EXPANSION TALK

Commissioner Adam Silver told NBA TV before the game that negotiations for the next media rights deal are now a priority since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been ratified โ€” and how expansion talk will come after that.

Silver said he thinks the media deal negotiations will begin โ€œin earnest probably this next spring.โ€ And after that, plans to add franchises will be the next item on the to-do list.

โ€œWe donโ€™t have anything specific in mind right now,โ€ Silver said. โ€œBut I think it makes sense over time if youโ€™re a successful organization to continue to grow. Thereโ€™s no doubt thereโ€™s a lot of great cities weโ€™re interested in having in the NBA.โ€

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