Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry are veteran Miami Heat players who have been key contributors on championship teams elsewhere. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that they are passionately invested in their current attempt at another title and willing to have difficult conversations in order to get the job done.
Love and Lowry reportedly had one of those talks following their Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday, which put the Heat down 3-1 and on the brink of losing the 2023 NBA Finals.
“Kevin Love and Lowry met outside the locker room and had a fierce but constructive conversation for several minutes about the team’s mishaps and discussed ways to improve for Monday,” wrote Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.
Game 5 is Monday at Denver, and the Nuggets can secure their first NBA championship with a win.
Excluding this year, 36 teams have trailed 3-1 in the NBA Finals, and only one has ever rallied to take the title. That was the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, with Love contributing to that historic comeback. The Cavs won the final three games to deny the Golden State Warriors back-to-back championships, and Love earned his only ring in the process.
Lowry played for the 2019 Toronto Raptors, who also defeated the Warriors to win it all. Love and Lowry are both looking to become two-time NBA champions.
The two NBA veterans have seen it all, and perhaps their ideas can help the Heat rally after two discouraging losses at home.
Miami did recover after losing Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at home to win Game 7 on the road against the Boston Celtics. But since winning the first three games of the series against the Celtics, the Heat have lost six of eight. They won Game 2 of the Finals 111-108 last Sunday, surviving a missed 3-pointer by Denver’s Jamal Murray in the final seconds.
The Heat may have met their match against the Nuggets and the historic versatility of Nikola Jokic. The Denver big man has two triple-doubles plus a 41-point game so far in the Finals, and even when he was facing foul trouble in Game 4, his teammates were able to hold off the Heat for a 108-95 win, their ninth in 10 games.
Love and Lowry have been role players throughout the playoffs for Miami, and whether their talk was about their own play or strategies for their teammates, the Heat need something to come of it starting Monday night.
