MIAMI (AP) — Once again, the Miami Heat are facing elimination. The question now is if they have enough left in the tank to overcome it.
The team whose improbable run from the play-in tournament to the NBA Finals has kept finding ways to win. No matter the opponent, no matter the adversity, finding a way when their backs were against the wall has been part of the Heat's identity in these playoffs.
But the Heat seem to have met an opponent in Denver that is too good and too deep.
The eighth-seeded Heat are on the brink of elimination after Friday's 108-95 loss in Game 4, falling into a 3-1 hole as the series heads back to Denver.
Minutes away from missing the postseason entirely in a play-in game, forced to win a Game 7 in Boston to avoid the biggest collapse in NBA postseason history, the Heat will now have to become the second team to come back from 3-1 down in the NBA Finals.
The Heat couldn't capitalize on quiet nights from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, by their standards. Outside of a 2-0 lead in the game's opening minute, Miami trailed the entire contest, including by as many as 13 in the third quarter.
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 25 points. Bam Adebayo had 20. The Heat also got good minutes from Kevin Love, who finished with 12 points, including a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers in the third that kept the game close.
The rest of Miami's shooters who had helped power them this far — Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson — combined for only 25.
The Heat grabbed home-court advantage in the series by rallying from down 15 to beat the Nuggets on their home floor in Game 2, despite Denver being heavy favorites.
Miami has fought back repeatedly during its run, coming from down 15 to beat the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of the opening round of the playoffs, then from down 16 to win the clinching Game 5. The Heat erased a 13-point deficit, then a 12-point hole to defeat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, which they won after being forced to a Game 7 after taking a 3-0 lead.
Perhaps the extra games in that series left the Heat worn down for the finals. They haven't looked like the same team from those previous rounds as this series went to Miami, and they'll head back to Colorado looking to show they're not done yet.
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