Heat Stun Nuggets With Neat Perfect Fourth Quarter & Steal Game 2

I came home late last evening, and caught most of the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. It was the third quarter of a tight game between the Heat and the hometown Nuggets. Denver held onto a slim lead, but began to seemingly take control of the game late in the quarter. By the end of the quarter, it appeared that they had the momentum in the game. They had been undefeated at home in these playoffs heading into this one, so it appeared that they would have a chance to close it out in the final quarter.

However, the fourth quarter proved to be a disaster for the Nuggets. To be fair, it seemed like the refs missed a lot of no calls and made a lot of bad calls against the hometown team. Yet, it was more than that. The Nuggets also suddenly started playing very sloppily, while the Heat suddenly turned it on a few notches, and began to dominate the game. Their defense suddenly proved intense, forcing Denver into missed shots, poor shot selection, and a whole lot of mistakes. There were some crazy passes that missed the mark, and some poor time management.

Meanwhile, it seemed like the Heat also turned it up on the offensive end, as well. Just like that, they went from not being able to score easily in the third quarter, to not being able to miss through most of the fourth quarter. Very quickly, a game which seemed to be heading in the direction of a Nuggets victory went the other way, as Miami narrowed the margin, then took the lead, then expanding the lead to make it quite commanding with very little time left.

To their credit, the Nuggets rallied and made a serious comeback attempt in the final few minutes. In fact, they erased a 12-point lead inside of the three minute mark, I believe, and had a shot to tie it in the final seconds, down three. But for some reason, they did not call a timeout, and they raced down the court. Once again, they looked sloppy, and the shot selection was, frankly, not good. Denver was not able to convert, and the clock ran out for this game.

So the Heat managed to tie the series at 1-1, and did so by handing the Nuggets their first - and so far, only - home defeat of these playoffs. Interesting series.

Now, I'm not going to pretend to be a neutral party. I like the fact that the Denver Nuggets are making their first ever NBA Finals appearance, and hope that they will be successful in winning their first ever NBA title, to boot.