All of the bloodsucking just seems to be making the Nugs stronger.
As the de facto presenter of the series by virtue of its relationship with ABC, its sibling network, ESPN's antipathy for the Nuggets for ratings reasons has led to one awkward moment after another. Its lead basketball analyst, former Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins, has picked the Heat against Denver every game thus far, despite the fact that the Nuggets are discernibly superior in every way other than national notoriety. There's no reason to expect his tune to change anytime soon — and last night, NBA Game Time host Mike Greenberg, who proudly displays his East Coast bias whenever possible, followed suit.
This pair isn't alone. Nick Wright, Fox Sports's leading irritant, shrugged off the Nuggets' victory in game one and acted as if Miami's narrow triumph in game two would lead to an unstoppable Heat wave from that point forward.
Not so much — but the sequence of events still held some surprises.
Longtime Nuggets loyalists had a good feeling about game three in part because they thought starters Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope couldn't possibly be as offensively inept as in the previous matchup, when they'd combined for a measly eleven points. But instead, they were even more anemic from a production standpoint, with KCP managing only to match the six points he put up last time around and MPJ's total falling from five to a single bucket on one-of-seven shooting. Both were much better on the defensive end, however, closing out on Miami's three-point specialists with far more efficiency than before.
Meanwhile, Christian Braun, a rookie from Kansas (where he was on the NCAA championship squad), provided the sort of bench scoring that was desperately needed, piling up fifteen points in nineteen minutes based pretty much on sheer hustle.
Still, Denver's main men were the spotlight-loving Jamal Murray and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, as usual. Murray's eighteen points in game two were subpar by his standards, and he came out angry last night — and for him, that's a very good thing. He finished with a triple-double (34 points, ten assists and ten rebounds), as did Jokic (32 points, 21 rebounds, ten assists), making them the first teammates to manage such a feat in the NBA finals.
Jokic's 30/20/10 stat line was also an all-time finals moment, and when ABC's Lisa Salters, who'd never seen him play in person until last month, asked what that meant to him, he responded, "Not much" — the perfect answer. As coach Michael Malone has emphasized, he and his players didn't come to Miami to win only one contest — and they've got a chance to put a headlock on the series in game four tomorrow evening.
As for Heat boosters who'd bought tickets, they headed to the exits early — a logical decision, but one for which the Miami Twitter police took them to task. We've included some of those responses below, along with ridicule for Perkins, Wright, Greenberg, commentator Mark Jackson (who left Jokic off his MVP ballot) and Denver haters in general.
Clearly, the only thing that will silence the doubters is an NBA championship — which is still two wins away. Count down our picks for top post-game tweets below:
Number 20:
Not much of a “steal” when you’re leagues better than these bums
— HATER (@IHATESPORTSSS) June 8, 2023
Number 19:
Still got the Heat? C'mon Big Perk, get off the pipe. This series is Nuggets, Nuggets, Nuggets. Go to McDonald's and call it a day. Denver in six for sure, Mr Lakers and LeBron fan.
— Blango Ross Jr (@BlangoJr) June 8, 2023
Number 18:
Perk will have the off-season beating the nuggets in 5 count it
— Patrick (@ColoradoDonkies) June 8, 2023
Number 17:
Nick Wright said he can’t trust the Nuggets, and the Nuggets were losing tonight “for sure”…. I love when the Nuggets prove Nick Wrong!!!! #nickwrightiswrong
— Tony (@NuggsFan23) June 8, 2023
Number 16:
Nick Wright has now picked against the Denver Nuggets for 7 straight games.
— SlapNick Madrigal (@slapnick) June 8, 2023
Those picks are 1-6.
Number 15:
Nick Wright losing money by fading the Nuggets. I am SO here for it https://t.co/f27eYeBBOQ
— Kevin (Nuggets fan? Who knows) (@_Kevlar23_) June 8, 2023
Number 14:
Nikola Jokic is having one of the best finals series of all time. He had the first 30, 20, 10 game in finals history, and when asked what it meant to him, he said “to be honest, not much.”
— Carsen Williams (@Carsenw32) June 8, 2023
THAT is winning basketball.
Nuggets win game 3 and retake home court.
Number 13:
Haters gonna hate
— JokicbetterthanEmbiid (@bbarbour22) June 8, 2023
Number 12:
I would be worried that w/ the exception of one great comeback final quarter in Game 2, the Nuggets have easily looked like the best team in this series so far. The Heat have not dominated one game as they did in the early going against the Bucks, Knicks & Celtics.
— H. Kanne (@SpawnofOz) June 8, 2023
Number 11:
Maybe if half of the Miami crowd didn’t leave, they would have had a chance to make this unthinkable comeback…. THATS HEAT CULTURE BABY
— ©️Fiat (@ChrisFiata) June 8, 2023
Number 10:
Miami Heat “fans” are a joke leaving early when their team has 7 comebacks of double digits these playoffs #HEATCulture
— Mighty Touch (@Mighty_Touch) June 8, 2023
Number 9:
Miami Heat has to have to worst fans in the NBA. You walked out of the arena, left your team when they needed you the most. Your team actually had an opportunity to come back but you were gone. The coach had Jimmy Butler on the bench. You never leave your team like this. What a…
— Photo Guy (@DesMoinesPhoto) June 8, 2023
Number 8:
Name one player who has ever had a 30/20/10 game in the finals. Oh wait you can’t because it’s never happened before. If you don’t think this is at the very least a top 3 playoff run of all time you’re just a hater
— Luc (@LucC109) June 8, 2023
Number 7:
Don't worry there's lots of receipts from general nugget haters about us never winning a chip. I have those
— BILZEEN (@BILZEENBALLBALL) June 8, 2023
Number 6:
I can't wait until the Nuggets win just to see the meltdown from Jokic haters like Greeny, Nick Wright, Chris Mannix and Mark Jackson
— Rollie (@Rollie_Hawg) June 8, 2023
Number 5:
If the Nuggets finish this thing off, I hope someone tells Jokic to say “This is for the haters” when he gets that Finals MVP trophy.
— Shreddy Kruger (@mou7h8reather) June 8, 2023
Number 4:
Did the nuggets get to chose? It was impressive when the 8, 4, 7 seeds were all predicted to beat the nuggets. You’re a hater and sound like a clown
— alan (@theprestigious1) June 8, 2023
Number 3:
One-by one Nikola Jokic will win over all his haters. He’s special. The nuggets are special. You know it is true.
— No Way (@NoWay20154511) June 8, 2023
Number 2:
Jokic is the joker.
— Sango 🇺🇸 (@Sango_Sing_Song) June 8, 2023
Mark Jackson is a joke.
As an MVP voter, he didnt even have Jokic as top 3. Why must we endure his boring & biased commentating in these Nuggets vs Heat finals? He is a miserable hater.#NBAFinals #TheRealMVP #Jokic
Number 1:
Dear @nuggets, I want to thank you so much for what you’ve done this season. It’s not that you’re winning (though watching you win is definitely fun). It’s watching you embody the word, “teamwork”, in it’s most purest form.
— Stacey Carruth (@Stacey_Carruth) June 8, 2023
