MIAMI -- To say the Denver Nuggets' coaching staff has the utmost respect for Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is an understatement.
He keeps the Nuggets up at night. They ponder what adjustments to the adjustments to the adjustments Spoelstra will make. They've approached this 2023 NBA Finals knowing the way the Heat might play in Game 1 could be vastly different from what they do by Game 4, and it leaves Denver on edge.
Spoelstra likes to say, sometimes by admonishing reporters who ask questions about it, that his team's schemes aren't as important as the effort the Heat give. This might indeed be true; however, the Nuggets (and most undoubtedly the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks) will tell you Miami's schemes are pretty good, too.
With all of that context serving as the backdrop -- not to mention Spoelstra's lineup and game plan adjustments that fueled the Heat's Game 2 upset in Denver -- Nuggets coach Michael Malone and his staff delivered a brilliant counter in setting up the team for its 109-94 Game 3 victory Wednesday night.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray made it happen, their matching 30-point triple-doubles serving as a historic marker on the game that got Denver home-court advantage back and a 2-1 series lead.
But Malone pitched a near perfect game himself.
In the moments after the Nuggets dropped a disappointing Game 2, Malone ripped his team's effort to their faces and then to the media. Malone does this a few times a season, in part because he has a temper and sometimes he gets dark and broods.
But it's also because the Nuggets don't have a bad cop among the players in their locker room. There's no Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler to be the heavy -- and that role is just not in Jokic's or Murray's personalities. The old veterans, Jeff Green and DeAndre Jordan, are leaders for this Nuggets team that is trying to win its first Larry O'Brien Trophy, but the bad-cop approach is not in them, either.
So Malone does it. And he sure did it Sunday night, calling into question his team's effort and expressing disappointment that he had to do it -- of all times -- during the NBA Finals. He had poked his team after winning Game 1 when he felt it got away with a substandard effort, especially on defense. So he verbally slapped the team after Game 2.
"Honesty isn't critical, so I don't view it as being critical," Malone said. "I think it was an honest assessment of the game. Before I came out and spoke ... I had the same conversation with our players. Never once will I come into a press conference and say something I haven't spoken to our team about."
On Tuesday, the day before Game 3, Malone held a long video session at the Nuggets' Miami hotel. He explained he had had his staff put together 17 clips of defensive plays where he felt they had not played with enough effort.
The number wasn't a coincidence. One clip for each player to analyze.
Jokic. Murray. Rookies Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. Even the two-way players who aren't allowed to dress for the playoff games, Jack White and Collin Gillespie. All of them had to watch the clips and offer their thoughts on the breakdowns.
"It wasn't an emotional film session; that's not going to get us anywhere," Malone said. "It was a constructive film session where everybody had a chance to speak up and talk about each clip and what they see and how we can be better."
After ripping them down, Malone started the process of building his team back up. He preached over and over the need for better communication. The Heat had been using a Spoelstra-inspired trick, knowing the Nuggets' jargon for their pick-and-roll coverages. And when the Heat players heard the calls, they changed their plays on the fly, causing the Nuggets confusion and leading to many open shots.
At practice Tuesday, Malone pulled Murray aside for a talk, putting his arm around him. Murray was down on himself after the loss, and not just because he had missed the last shot that could've tied the game. He knew the Heat had targeted him, with Spoelstra using Butler as Murray's prime defender, and he couldn't get open and affect the game.
"He's always checking on guys, seeing their mood and tone, and I just think he does a great job, especially at this stage, of communicating what he's thinking as well, not just picking your brain," Murray said. "He knew it wasn't my best in Game 2, and he looked forward for me to get it back in Game 3."
Moments before the Nuggets took the floor Wednesday for the Finals' first game in Miami, Malone juiced his team with a speech.
"Enjoy this moment, enjoy this opportunity and embrace it!" Malone said. "And play with an urgency and a desperation that embodies that. We didn't have that in Game 2. That's who we are, and that's why we're here!"
Of course it wasn't just about words and motivational tools. Malone and his staff also made strategy moves. After the Heat's efforts limited Jokic and Murray's devastating two-man game Sunday, Malone called for Jokic to set 32 screens for Murray in Game 3, their most this season, per Second Spectrum tracking.
The bread-and-butter play for those two is the dribble handoff. Malone had them run it 15 times. After Murray's struggles, the Game 3 plan aimed to get him revved up early, and it led to 20 first-half points. With the Heat dominating the fourth quarters in Games 1 and 2, Malone opted not to take Jokic off the floor in the second half.
The players executed the plan, but it was Malone who had done his job exquisitely on a high-pressure stage. When Malone needed to be great against an opponent at the top of the profession, he did. And the Nuggets are now two wins from a title.
"My job is not just to point out mistakes. My job is not just to applaud guys when they're playing well," Malone said. "It's also just to be there for them and provide whatever support I can."