Watch: Duncan Robinson saves the Heat's season in Game 2
When the fourth quarter of Game 2 began, Duncan Robinson was scoreless and the Heat trailed by eight. That all changed very quickly.
Robinson scored all 10 of his Game 2 points in the first 2:16 of the final period as Miami went from down 83-75 to up 88-85. That would prove to be the final margin of victory in the game.
It looked like the Heat might go down 2-0, which could have doomed them. Only five teams out of 36 have ever come back to win after being down 2-0 in the NBA Finals. Thanks to Robinson, the Heat won't have to buck those odds.
The run started when Robinson pump-faked a scrambling Jamal Murray into the air and drained a triple. When Murray tried to close aggressively on the next possession, Robinson blew past him, scoring a layup and getting fouled. Robinson missed the free throw but Miami ended up with the ball. When Jeff Green gave Robinson space, he hit another three-pointer over him.
It wasn't just Robinson's scoring that hurt the Nuggets, but their panic at the thought of his shots. The next time the Nuggets had the ball, Gabe Vincent screened for Robinson, and both Christian Braun and Bruce Brown followed Robinson, giving Vincent a wide-open three.
On the next play, the Heat ran the same set and the thoroughly confused Nuggets defenders stuck to Vincent. Robinson drove for a layup and an emphatic celebration, though without any pro wrestling gestures.
Robinson shot 2-of-3 from three-point range, part of a team-wide 17-of-35 (48.6%) effort. But one reason the Heat are shooting so much better in the playoffs than the regular season from deep (39.2%, compared to 34.8%) is that they're getting wide-open shots.
Also, players like Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love and Robinson are shooting much closer to their career numbers than they did in the regular season.
The Nuggets will look to regroup when the series moves to Miami. They can start by guarding Robinson.
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