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Caleb Martin is listed as active for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday. The Miami Heat host the Denver Nuggets. Denver leads the series 2-1 after dominating Game 3.
Tyler Herro is the only player listed on the injury report. He remains out with a broken hand.
Martin was one of the biggest reasons the Heat made the finals. He outperformed his expectations in the Eastern Conference finals and averaged 19.3 points per game against the Boston Celtics.
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Martin has not performed at the same level so far in the NBA Finals. He has struggled mightily against the Nuggets defense.
He scored three points in Game 1 on 1-of-7 shooting. He followed that up with another three-point performance on 1-of-3 shooting. He stepped up a bit in Game 3 with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Martin needs to bump up those numbers if the Heat want to get back into the series. He needs to become more of a threat from 3-point range again. He is shooting 44.4% from downtown but he has only averaged three 3-pointers per game.
Martin is averaging 12.8 points per game during Miami’s playoff run. Martin scored a playoff high 26 points in Game 7 against the Celtics.
A key to Game 4
The Heat competed much tougher in the first two games in Denver. The main reason was how well they shot the ball.
Despite the loss in Game 1, Miami hit 13-of-39 from 3-point range and 40.6% from the field. They bumped up those numbers in Game 2, hitting 17-of-35 from downtown. They shot 48.7% from the field in the 111-108 win.
Game 3 saw those numbers drop off a cliff. Miami hit 11-of-35 from 3-point range. Some of those came from Duncan Robinson in garbage time when the game was already decided.
Miami will need another hot shooting night to keep up with the Denver offense. Denver was extremely efficient in Game 3, shooting 51.7% .
The Heat will need Martin and one of the other role players to have a big night, much like Duncan Robinson created a spark off the bench with 10 points in Game 2.
