Protecting home-court advantage is a must in the NBA playoffs.
Teams need to stay in control and take care of business at home, and the Denver Nuggets have done an outstanding job of that.
The Nuggets are currently 9-0 at home in the postseason, which is why Jamal Murray jokingly said that he thinks his team is doing a good job right now.
"Have we lost Game 1?"
"No."
"Oh. … Think we're doing a good job."
—Jamal Murray on being 9-0 at home these playoffs 😂 pic.twitter.com/LzQ4StF98a
— ESPN (@espn) June 2, 2023
A good job, indeed.
The Nuggets obviously have an extra edge when they play at home because of the altitude and the toll it takes on the visitors, especially late in games and in back-to-backs.
That can be a massive factor this deep into the season when teams and players are exhausted and rarely healthy, and the Heat are kind of banged up after that seven-game physical series vs. the Boston Celtics.
Coach Mike Malone recently revealed that he made it a point of emphasis to hold their ground in Game 1, as the Heat had already taken the first game of every series in the playoffs thus far, and they simply couldn’t afford to lose control of this series.
The Nuggets are heavily favored to take care of business and win their very first NBA championship this season, but this Heat team has been remarkably resilient, and it seems like they’re never truly out of any game or series.
Murray and company cannot take their feet off the gas and will need to be as aggressive — if not more — come Game 2 on Sunday night before the series heads to South Beach.
NEXT: Skip Bayless Reveals His Takeaway From Nuggets' Game 1 Win Over Heat
