"Murray is the head of the snake, not Jokic" - Steve Kerr makes bold claim regarding Heat's Game 2 win
The Miami Heat and Erik Spoelstra tried a different approach in Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets. Instead of keeping Kevin Love on the bench, Spoelstra gave him another shot in the starting lineup, and this ended up being the difference-maker for Miami.
By starting the 6-foot-8 forward, Spoelstra allowed Jimmy Butler to guard Jamal Murray. As a result, Miami held the Nuggets' point guard to only 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting, which is well below his standards.
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors head coach, appeared in Draymond Green's podcast after Game 2. Kerr talked about Spoelstra's decision to use Love in the starting five, and how it ended up winning the game for the Miami Heat.
In Game 1, Erik Spoelstra inserted Caleb Martin in the starting lineup. Martin has had a fantastic postseason run, but he's only 6-5 and plays mostly off the bench. This experiment turned out to be a disaster as the Heat lost the series opener.
Spoelstra put Kevin Love back in the starting lineup in Game 2, allowing Jimmy Butler to guard Jamal Murray. According to Steve Kerr, this was the biggest adjustment the Miami Heat made on Sunday night.
"You mentioned them starting Love," Kerr said. "That allowed Jimmy Butler to guard Murray. ... I haven't talked to Spo ... but I can see them in their coaching meeting saying, 'Murray is the head of the snake, not Jokic.'"
Steve Kerr and @Money23Green reveal the key adjustment Miami made in Game 2 win
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Steve Kerr believes that the Miami Heat won because of their starting lineup
The Golden State Warriors coach further explained his comments, saying that Nikola Jokic would dominate no matter what the Heat do. Due to this, focusing on limiting Murray was the right thing to do.
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"He's gonna dominate no matter what we do," Kerr said. "I think they just decided 'Murray is the guy we gotta stop,' so you start Love, put Jimmy Butler on Murray. ... They were blitzing Murray quite a bit and really tried everything to take him out of the game."
When the final buzzer of Game 2 sounded off, the Miami Heat were up by three points, 111-108, and Jamal Murray had 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
The Nuggets' point guard also added 10 assists, but the Heat did not allow him to be as aggressive as he would have liked.
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Murray also had a double-double in Game 1. However, he was much more efficient as he finished the game with 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting.