From the opening jump of the 2023 NBA Finals, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was prepared for everything his Miami Heat counterpart would hurl at his team, and Erik Spoelstra will unfurl anything.
For all the discussion about Spoelstra and Heat Culture through the Eastern Conference finals — and a championship with this eighth-seeded squad would make a case for the greatest coaching job in league history — we should pause for a moment to appreciate the environment Malone has cultivated in Denver.
Denver never trailed Game 1 after that initial punch, leading by as many as 24 points in a decisive victory, and Spoelstra adjusted to a larger lineup — starting Kevin Love in place of Caleb Martin — for Game 2.
There is nothing like a loved one's disappointment to make you look within yourself, and Malone's call-out worked because he had already empowered his team to do just that."I asked them, 'You guys tell me why they lost,' and they knew the answer," he said."Miami came in here and outworked us, and we were by far our least disciplined game of these 17 playoff games.
Take Michael Porter Jr., for example. Malone demanded defense from the touted prospect, even as most everyone called for Porter to play through mistakes, and the strategy has borne fruit years later, despite the 24-year-old's struggles offensively in this series. Riding Braun in the second half of Game 3 was a choice, and one Malone abandoned for Porter's defense when Braun was less impactful against Miami's man-to-man looks in Game 4.
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