Warriors coach Steve Kerr says Heat now know Jamal Murray is ‘the head of the snake, not Jokic’

Erik Spoelstra’s Miami tried something different in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Nuggets, and it seemed to have paid off. The different approach was simple, as the coach played Kevin Love in the starting lineup and re-established the player’s defensive duties.

With the foward on court since the start, this allowed team star Jimmy Butler to guard Jamal Murray directly. Unlike in Game 1, the Denver point guard was only able to drop 18 points throughout the match, shooting 7 for 15 this time around.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr noticed this as he was invited to appear Draymond Green’s podcast after the second contest of the championship series. The Warriors trainer explained why placing Love since the beginning was the main reason behind the Heat becoming the first team to defeat the Nuggets at home this postseason.

In the opening match of the NBA Finals, Spoelstra tried his luck with Caleb Martin in the starting five, as he’s had an amazing run these playoffs. However, when he starts the team is only 6-5, and seems like his coach will now play him mostly from the bench.

Kerr shared his views on why it is so important to guard Murray, as this might be the clue to Denver’s Achilles Heel.

“You mentioned them starting Love,” he said. “That allowed Jimmy Butler to guard Murray. … I haven’t talked to Spo … but I can see them in their coaching meeting saying, ‘Murray is the head of the snake, not Jokic.'”

The Warriors coach further detailed his opinion by saying that big man Nikola Jokic is unstoppable and will always dominate no matter what Miami does. This is precisely the reason why the Heat should focus mostly on limiting the Denver point guard.

“He’s gonna dominate no matter what we do,” Kerr assured. “I think they just decided ‘Murray is the guy we gotta stop,’ so you start Love, put Jimmy Butler on Murray. … They were blitzing Murray quite a bit and really tried everything to take him out of the game.”

The Heat are the team with most comebacks in the playoffs after losing by double digits

After trailing by double digits during the first half, Miami came back from behind to beat Denver by three points, 111-108. Also, ‘the head of the snake’ aka Jamal Murray ended the match with eight less points than he did back in Game 1.

Check out his highlights from last week’s opening contest of the championship series:

Even though Nuggets’ point guard also added 10 assists in Game 2, the Heat did not allow him to be as aggressive as he expected. This means that both strategy and Miami’s elite mentality might be the formula to stop the Colorado franchise.

According to team superstar Jimmy Butler, it’s all about the “I don’t give a damn factor” that kicks in when the odds aren’t in their favor.

“I just think nobody cares on our team. We’re not worried about what anybody thinks,” Butler said. “We’re so focused in on what we do well and who we are as a group that at the end of the day, that’s what we fall back on.

“Make or miss shots, we’re going to be who we are because we’re not worried about anybody else. That’s how it’s been all year long, and that’s not going to change.”