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Following the Miami Heat’s Game 2 victory, coach Erik Spoelstra ended his media conference with a blunt response to a question from ESPN reporter Romana Shelburne. The writer asked if the Heat were deliberately attempting to force Nikola Jokic to be more of a scorer than a passer.
Spoelstra cut off the question and said it was a naive thing to ask. He then ended his media conference right after.
“That's ridiculous,” Spoelstra said. “That's the untrained eye that says something like that. This guy is an incredible player. Twice in two seasons he's been the best player on this planet. You can't just say, 'Oh, make him a scorer.' That's not how they play.”
Spoelstra has since apologized to Shelburne. The reporter said the two sides are “fine”. She went on to say the Heat coach apologized.
“We talked after the game. He watched the clip back and texted me… saying I’m sorry I don’t know why I said that,” Shelburne said. “In the heat of the moment after a game like that when things are intense, people say things, and nothing is personal.”
Shelburne acknowledged that it was nothing personal, and the Heat coach admitted to getting caught up in the heat of the moment.
Can Spoelstra's Heat contain Jokic in Game 3?
Nikola Jokic was more of a distributor in Game 1. He took a few shots in the first half of the game. The Joker instead carved up the intense Heat defense with assists.
Jokic finished the game with 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He dished out 14 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Heat adjusted their defense and allowed Jokic to be more of a scorer in Game 2, much to Shelburne’s original point. They doubled Jokic less often, allowing Bam Adebayo or another big to guard him one-on-one.
Jokic got a ton of scoring opportunities in the paint but the defense made it more difficult for him to pass. The Siberian scored 41 points but finished with just four assists. He took 28 shots, making 16 of them. The Heat held on to win 111-108.
The Heat will likely need an adjustment and throw a variation of the single-man defense at Jokic in Game 3. Kevin Love will likely get the start again. His strong presence and rebounding ability allowed Adebayo to roam a bit more and exert less effort on defense when not guarding Jokic.
Game 3 will take place on Wednesday in Miami. The series is tied 1-1.
Guess the Lakers players!
