Heat, following similar script as Game 1, lose to Nuggets in Game 3 with poor shooting

Those open looks Miami kept knocking down three nights earlier in Denver just wouldn't go down back home.

Those open looks Miami kept knocking down three nights earlier in Denver just wouldn't go down back home.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were a combined 10 of 30 in the paint, and too many other shooters were cold in a 109-94 loss Wednesday night that gave the Nuggets a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

"I just missed some that I normally make," said Butler, who finished with 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting. "Along with Bam, too, but we're gonna continually take those, getting two feet in the paint. If you can get a shot up, get it up, and if you can't, get it out to your shooters. I think we did a good job with that. Maybe we do have to do a better job, but those are the same shots that we're gonna get next game, and we're expected to take and make those."

After knocking down 17 3-pointers in Game 2, Miami made 11 of 34 shots from deep in Game 3. Duncan Robinson had three. Caleb Martin added a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Despite getting the looks inside that they wanted, the Heat simply did not knock them down, resulting in a loss in which their fans, once roaring as loud as they could as they swirled white flags above their heads, were finding the exits before the final minutes.

Gabe Vincent shot 2 for 10 and Max Strus was 1 for 7, the starting guards combining to miss eight of their 10 attempts behind the arc.

Butler couldn't seem to find the words to describe what went wrong, or why it was such a far cry from their success in a tough road environment a few nights earlier.