Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 53 points against the Miami Heat in their Game 1 victory. That wasn’t even close to their best, though. Both can drop 30 points or more on their day with ease.
For the Miami Heat, this series will come down to containing both Jokic and Murray. Speaking before Game 2 of the NBA Finals, though, Jimmy Butler accepted that it is easier said than done.
“Tough, tough,” Butler said, as per TalkBasket. “They do everything well. You got to guard both of them a majority of the time with two people. We got to figure out that because that’s coming at us every possession, if not every possession, damn sure every other possession.
“We’ll key on it, we’ll lock in on it but it’s tough no matter who it is, no matter who it is guarding those two guys who are willing passers and can give you 50 on any given night. And then they got shooters everywhere on the floor. But you’re gonna have to do hard things to get where you want to get to.”
Nikola Jokic is averaging 29.8 points per game during these playoffs, while Jamal Murray is at 27.6. Stopping them both on any given night is almost an impossibility, but the Heat have the players to make it happen. Bam Adebayo could cause Jokic some problems, and Jimmy himself will likely have to do something about Murray.
Jimmy Butler Has Been Told To Guard Jamal Murray In The NBA Finals
In Game 1, the primary defender of Jamal Murray was Gabe Vincent. And while he is a serviceable player on that end, Murray struggled a lot more on the rare occasions he was matched up against Jimmy Butler instead. And one analyst thinks Jimmy has to take on the assignment to guard Murray.
“Jimmy Butler has to guard Jamal Murray at all times. It’s the only way the Miami Heat will stand a fighting chance, now down 0-1 in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets, courtesy of a 26-point effort from Murray in the Mile High City on Thursday.
“Yet, of Murray’s 22 field-goal attempts, Butler defended only two, and both were misses: a heavily contested stepback 2, and a contested pull-up 3 that clanked off left iron.”
Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the league, and he will have a plan for how to slow down Jokic and Murray. After that, it will be up to the Heat players to execute it and get some wins on the board in these Finals.
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