It was a second-straight home loss in the NBA Finals for the Miami Heat as the Denver Nuggets took a 3-1 lead in the series after a 108-95 win in Game 4.
After the game, Stephen A. Smith was asked about his biggest takeaways from the game, and he pointed to the poor showing from the starting backcourt for the Heat.
“On the negative side, Max Strus, you’re a starting guard, this is the second game in four games of the NBA Finals you were scoreless,” Smith said. “0-4 shooting from the field. Gabe Vincent 1-6, the starting backcourt for the Miami Heat had 2 points.”
“I’m gonna repeat what I said. The starting backcourt for the Miami Heat scored 2 points in an NBA Finals, 2,” Smith added later in the segment. “I don’t care what anybody says when you’re sitting here in South Beach, South Beach right down the road when you’re looking forward to a series that will extend to six or seven games, could you give us more than 2 points for a starting backcourt? That’s really ridiculous.”
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Max Strus and Gabe Vincent were horrible, as Smith pointed out, going a combined 1-10 from the field for 2 points. What made matters worse was how the Nuggets role players shone, with Aaron Gordon scoring a game-high 27 points while Bruce Brown had 21.
Strus has really had one of the worst NBA Finals a starting guard has ever had, with averages of 4.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.5 APG while shooting 16.1% from the field and 19.2% from beyond the arc.
Vincent, meanwhile, has still been decent in this series, as he is putting up 12.8 PPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.0 SPG while shooting 42.9% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc.
The Heat Are Remaining Optimistic
While Smith, like so many others, has declared that the series is over, the Heat remain optimistic that they can pull off a stunning comeback. Kevin Love tried to inspire his teammates by reminding them that he was part of the team that did come back from down 3-1 when the Cleveland Cavaliers did it against the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
Jimmy Butler stated that they had done some hard things all year long and can do so yet again here. Bam Adebayo, meanwhile, stated they have to take it one game at a time. He added they have firsthand experience of a team almost coming back from down 3-0, so they have to believe.
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