The officiating has been one of the biggest talking points in these playoffs and we have seen a whole lot of complaining about the free throw disparity at various points.
So, when Game 1 of the NBA Finals saw the Miami Heat shoot just two free throws compared to 20 for the Denver Nuggets, you’d have thought Erik Spoelstra might join in on the complaining, but he didn’t.
“I thought the free throw disparity was appropriate,” Spoelstra said. “Maybe we could have gotten two, four, six more based on a call here, a call there but overall our attack numbers were lower and that usually translates into lower free throw attempts.”
(starts at 3:45 mark):
The Heat did settle for a lot of jump shots and they need to attack the basket a lot more in Game 2. The Nuggets have a lot of size but they don’t have an elite rim protector and the Heat have to find a way to take advantage of that, especially if the threes aren’t falling, as was the case in Game 1 when they went 13-39.
You certainly appreciate Spoelstra not blaming the officials here, but his tone might change if this turns into a theme for this series.
Jimmy Butler And Bam Adebayo Spoke On The Heat’s Lack Of Free Throws In Game 1
The Heat as a whole weren’t complaining after Game 1. Jimmy Butler had been averaging 9.1 free throw attempts per game in these playoffs heading into the Finals but didn’t shoot even one in Game 1. Butler stated he needed to put more pressure on the rim and said the zero attempts at the line were all on himself.
Bam Adebayo also stated they took too many jump shots instead of getting to the basket. Considering how Spoelstra, Butler, and Adebayo have all spoken about the need to attack the basket, you’d expect that to be a point of emphasis for the Heat in Game 2. It will be interesting to see how the Nuggets deal with that as they look to go up 2-0.
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