Miami>> Championship on deck? Give Heat center Bam Adebayo credit.

Through the first two games of the Finals, he’s been Miami’s first line of defense against Nikola Jokic, doing his best to dictate how the two-time MVP operates offensively. Even though Jokic scored 41 points in Game 2, the scoring came on the Heat’s terms. With only four assists, Jokic wasn’t the unstoppable, unguardable engine he was in Game 1.

And that’s just the energy Adebayo’s exerting defensively. Offensively, he’s averaged 23.5 points, 11 rebounds and 4.5 assists through two games. In Game 2, he looked like Jokic Lite, serving as an offensive fulcrum for Miami.

Jimmy Butler has been underwhelming offensively and credited Adebayo for his all-encompassing impact.

“Bam has been playing incredibly well this entire playoffs, for sure this series, and that’s when he’s got like the toughest matchup by far on the defensive side of the ball,” Butler said.

“…He has been there for us all year long, and like I said, he is going to be the reason why we win the championship.”

Butler has never shied away from bold statements. Last series, when he predicted the Heat would advance past the Celtics, he backed it up.

Herro update: Miami’s been careful and cautious with shooting guard Tyler Herro, who’s inching closer to a possible return from a hand fracture. First, there’s a question of his physical status, and second, there’s a question of whether his return might break up Miami’s established rhythm.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be Nostradamus right now,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re taking it one day at a time. I know that sounds like cliché. He did the practice with the group. He is going to do a full-contact workout after this. We’ll evaluate that. We’ll meet with the training staff later on today and probably tomorrow, and we’ll just continue this process. He has not been cleared yet, so that’s where we are. But we’re encouraged by the work that he has been doing.”

Not all bad>> Game 2 was Denver’s first home loss of the postseason. Its 3-point communication was awful, and its fourth-quarter defense, for the second straight game, deteriorated. Nuggets rookie Christian Braun was adamant that there were still positives to be gleaned.

“You play really bad — it probably was our worst game of the playoffs — and you lose by three points to a really good team,” Braun said. “It’s not the worst thing that could happen to you. Especially when you see that it was because of effort. That might be the slap in the face we needed going forward.”

From that perspective, if the Nuggets’ intensity matches the moment, they could just as easily steal a road win as Miami just did. And the fact that the wake-up call came this early in the series? Even better.

Very superstitious>> Aaron Gordon’s acclimation — and subsequent sacrifice — since arriving in Denver via trade has been well documented. His transition from a playmaker in Orlando to a role player in Denver has been nothing short of remarkable. Gordon, who said he’d have some friends from Orlando attending Game 3, disclosed a superstition that he’d never publicly said before.

“Yeah, I kiss my jersey,” he said. “I kiss the front of my jersey, and the back of my jersey. I kiss — I’m thankful for the organization and just thankful for my family as well.”

Even though Gordon said Florida was like a second home to him, the talented forward’s in a better situation now than he ever would’ve been with the Magic.