Why Malone didn’t call timeout at end of game
With 11 seconds remaining in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Bruce Brown pulled down a rebound after Jimmy Butler missed a jumper, giving the Nuggets an opportunity they had clawed several minutes for: A chance to tie the game. It was 111-108 Heat. Miami had led by as many as 12 late in the fourth quarter before a furious Denver rally, which culminated here.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone elected to leave his two timeouts in his pocket.
Instead of stopping the clock and advancing the ball, the Nuggets brought the ball up while time waned. The last possession resulted in a Jamal Murray step-back 3-point attempt, which rimmed out at the buzzer. The Heat tied the series 1-1 by handing the Nuggets their first home of the playoffs.
“I think it’s dependent upon the situation,” Malone said when asked for an explanation. “Their half- court defense was giving us a lot of trouble in that fourth quarter. You can take a timeout, let them get set — you let them review whatever play they think we’re going to run. And there’s a great chance we don’t get a quality shot like Jamal got, which was on line and from my perspective looked like it had a great chance of going in. And we’ve seen Jamal make shots like that before.”
“I think he got off a decently good look,” said Butler, who was guarding Murray on the shot. “Kind of like a high pick-and-roll isolation, and I just contested it. Pretty glad that he missed it to give us a 1-1 series tie going back to Miami.”
Murray finished the night 7 for 15 from the field and 3 for 8 from 3-point range, with 18 points. He had made a 3 moments earlier to cut the deficit in half.
“I think you guys have seen me hit that shot enough,” Murray said when asked whether he liked the no- timeout decision. “It was a good look. Just didn’t go down.”
The case for withholding was in Malone’s point: Denver had started the game with a 16- 0 edge in fast break points while taking a double- digit lead on Miami in the first half. The Heat defended relentlessly in the fourth while outscoring the Nuggets 36-25.
The case for calling it? To set up a play, first, but just as notably to maximize the number of possessions and potential shots.
Malone had not one but two timeouts. If he called one after Brown’s rebound, the Nuggets would have had time for an offensive rebound after a missed shot, or even another possession if they had wanted to try getting to the rim for a quick two.
“Some nights, yeah, I think we can take the timeout,” Malone said. “Other nights, give our guys the freedom to get out and run. But with how well they were guarding in that quarter and how hard it was for us to generate looks, I felt in that transition we had the best chance to get the look that we wanted.”