DENVER — This feels like it could be a coronation. The Nuggets clearly have been the better team this series, Nikola Jokić has been the best player on the floor (if not in the world), and the Heat are struggling to find answers.
Then there is the math. Only one team in NBA history came from 3-1 down in the NBA Finals to win the series, and that team had LeBron James at his peak and a series of breaks going their way.
Miami’s task may be harder, starting with the fact Denver doesn’t shoot itself in the foot. Of course, these gritty Heat love just this kind of challenge. “[We} Love playing in these kind of environments where the crowd is going to be great tomorrow,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody is counting us out.
We’re used to that. But ultimately it has to be decided between those four lines. The crowd is not going to decide it. The narratives are not going to decide it.