Erik Spoelstra fully understands that they have plenty of errors to address following their Game 3 loss against the Denver Nuggets, but they have to look closely with regards to their interior defense.
“They just pummeled us in the paint,” the Miami Heat coach told reporters in his postgame following their 109-94 loss. “They didn’t even have to shoot threes.”
Despite being inconsistent and passive from downtown (5-of-18 treys), Denver owned the shaded area with 60 points in the paint. Their dominance can only be credited to Nikola Jokic who tore it up with a 30-20-10 triple-double.
As the Nuggets elevated their game to regain the series deficit, Spoelstra admitted that they have to be efficient on their offensive game while also tightening up their effort. They also allowed Denver to pull down 58 huge boards, a massive contraction to their 33 totals.
The club shot a lowly 37 percent mark from the field, while the Nuggets were superior on their own with that strong 51.2 percent collective shooting.
“For us, when we lose a lot of physical battles – effort plays, the loose balls, the rebounding battles – that’s our identity, and sometimes that can affect the flow of the rest of your game,” he said.
“That’s not an excuse. I think the thing that we’ve proven over and over and over is we can win and find different ways to win regardless of whether we have confidence, regardless whether the ball is going in. We have a determination to impact the game and find a different solution or different way to win a game regardless of where the ball is going in.”
