Game 2 3-pointers >> Spoelstra wisely elects to make Jokic a scorer

1 Spo’s Joker decision: After Nikola Jokic sliced and diced the Heat with immaculate passes in Game 1, Miami coach Eric Spoelstra decided to make Joker be a scorer instead of a distributor Sunday night. In the series opener, Jokic had six first-quarter assists before his first shot attempt and 10 assists vs. three shot attempts at halftime. In Game 2, he was 3-for-6 shooting with just one assist in the first eight minutes. Miami didn’t send help, living with one-on-one post matchups for most of the night. Bam Adebayo was serviceable. Cody Zeller was not. Jokic feasted on him in the third quarter, even calling for Bruce Brown to clear out late in the shot clock at one point. (He scored.) After an 18-point third, Jokic had 31 points on 23 field goal attempts but only three assists. Two of them were difficult oops, not because of Heat double-teams. Miami is cool with that — history supports that opponents have a better chance when Jokic is “reduced” to scoring. 2 The Braun and the brawn: The symbol of Game 2’s unusual first half was none other than Christian Braun, who spearheaded the Nuggets’ second unit to a 21-6 run without Nikola Jokic at the beginning of the second quarter. Braun’s relentless motor has never been more evident than it was during a Miami possession when he disrupted passes by tipping the ball three times — twice out of bounds to stay with the Heat, then finally for a steal. Third try was a charm. Braun assisted three out of four made baskets (all 3-pointers) for Denver at one point. Then he timed a transition cut to perfection for a rare C.B. dunk. The Nuggets won the bench minutes; the Heat won the starters’ minutes. Braun’s line in 10 first-half minutes: 6 points on 3-of-3 shooting, three assists, two steals, plus14 on the floor. Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. were minuseight.

3 All you need is Love: Miami veteran forward Kevin Love, a midseason buyout acquisition, didn’t play in Game 1. He didn’t play in Game 6 or Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Boston, as Spoelstra shortened his bench in a tense series. But the Heat brought back the graying former NBA champion Sunday — not just to the lineup, but to the starting five. It felt like a direct response to Denver’s bullying in the first quarter of Game 1, when Aaron Gordon imposed his size on various matchups for 12 early points. Love didn’t contribute a ton statistically. But he made life harder for Gordon, who had only nine points until late in the game. Love was a plus-18.