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Jun 5, 2023Liked by Neil Paine

I think the Heat fans appreciate the jinx you laid on Denver here. 😂

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author

Lol, happy to oblige for the sake of a competitive series. ;)

What's funny is that the Nuggets managed to have a better offensive performance overall (124.3 ORtg) in Game 2 than Game 1, even if it was inconsistent across different stretches of the game. But Michael Malone wasn't kidding when he talked about them having "nonexistent" defense. There was only 1 game of the playoffs (G3 of the ECF) where Miami had a better offensive rating than they did last night: https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIA/2023/gamelog-advanced/#tgl_advanced_playoffs::8

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Jun 5, 2023Liked by Neil Paine

Heh - I just told my friend who's a huge Miami fan that I liked that the Heat won because it makes for a more exciting series. GMTA.

I also told him I was surprised that Denver lost when the Joker put up 41. That was before I saw the stat that the Nuggets are 0-3 in the postseason when Jokic scores more than 40. Which is just wild.

That raises an interesting question. NBA teams (generally) need a superstar to succeed, but are they more successful when their star *doesn't* dominate the game? Or is that unique to the Nuggets?

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author

That’s a very good question that I’m sure will be debated over the next few days. Lemme look into that for a post!

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