MIAMI – The Denver Nuggets own a 2-1 advantage over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals after a historic Game 3 performance, and they have veteran forward Jeff Green to thank for it.
But it wasn’t his on-court effort (four points) that provided the biggest boost.
Green, 36, hosted a team dinner at his southwest Miami home after the Nuggets arrived on Monday night. It was an opportunity for players and coaches to reset on an off day after their Game 2 loss.
And it worked quite well.
“He has a nice house,” Nikola Jokic said with a smile after he and Jamal Murray became the first teammates to have 30-point triple-doubles in the NBA Finals during Denver’s 109-94 win in Game 3 on Wednesday night.
“Having us in his house, it’s a really nice thing of him, and hopefully one time we can come to celebrate a little bit better.”
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With Game 4 on Friday night at Kaseya Center, the Nuggets hope to take a 3-1 edge to Denver. So it’s not time to celebrate just yet.
Green and veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tried to downplay the significance of the team gathering earlier this week.
“Everybody was just happy to be together, I will say,” Caldwell-Pope said. “There’s not much to it.”
Veteran center DeAndre Jordan had some complaints.
“It was terrible. I’m kinda upset I went,” Jordan said with a smile.
On the dinner menu: Beef, chicken and teriyaki salmon with tapenade as the main courses. Among the sides were potatoes, asparagus, and kale salad, “which was a big hit,” according to Jordan. There was an assortment of desserts on a dessert bar.
“Jeff’s rich, so when you have money like that, you can have a dessert bar,” Jordan joked.
The Prisoner red wine flowed for some, while some Casamigos tequila was also on the dessert menu for some personnel members – two nights before Game 3.
“It was good wine. And it was good food,” Green said.
You can’t blame Jokic for wanting to go back after his performance – the first 30-point, 20-rebound triple-double in Finals history. He had 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists, while Murray had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Nuggets lost their first game at home during the postseason in Game 2, and they capitalized in Miami by stealing home-court advantage back during Game 3.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said the dinner allowed the entire team to “reset, take a deep breath and take the edge off.”
“It was a good vibe just to have everybody there, forgetting about the last game, knowing that we’re here as a team, as a family, trying to accomplish something,” Murray said.
Green didn’t intend for the dinner to have some bigger meaning or be a grand gesture. He just wanted to invite his team over for some leisurely time so they could sit and drink some wine, watch some TV, play some pool, get some dinner and chill.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“It’s the Finals,” Green told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “At the end of the day, we understand and know the meaning of why we’re here and what we need to do to accomplish what we want to accomplish. It wasn’t no pep talk or extra motivation given.”
Whether the Game 3 win leads to a win in Game 4 or Denver’s first championship in its 47-year NBA franchise history remains to be seen.
One thing’s for sure: One dinner night was enough for Green to host this week.
“At the end of the day, we have to get our rest,” Green said when asked if he would host again before Game 4.
“We want to come here and get both games,” Caldwell-Pope said.
“I feel like we have to continue to play how we played in Game 3. I feel like we played great as far as we didn’t panic, we weren’t under pressure or whatever it was. We were just clicking.”
Maybe, it was the dinner, after all.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeff Green’s team dinner helped Nuggets ‘reset’ in NBA FInals
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