DENVER – From snarling Tyler Herro, for whom all the court is a stage, it would be expected. But did Duncan Robinson actually break out the mean mug and flex during Game 2 of the NBA Finals?
Yes, in all its unexpected glory amid the Miami Heat’s series-tying 111-108 victory Sunday night at Ball Arena that knotted the best-of-seven series 1-1 heading into Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. Game 3 at Kaseya Center.
Compared more to Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron because of the facial resemblance than the NBA’s sultans of swag such as teammate Herro, Robinson seemingly could not help himself after a personal and decisive 8-0 scoring run at the start of Sunday’s fourth-quarter turnaround.
So there he was, arms tightened as if to feature physique, jaw clenched and facial muscles contorted.
“I surprised myself with the fact that I pulled that one out,” said Robinson, arguably the least likely of the Heat’s players to pause to pose. “That was not premeditated at all. That was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
There simply have not been many moments of such impact in a career built on 3-point finesse and feathery perimeter touch.
“To be honest,” he continued, “I don’t get a lot of moments in the season to break that one out; so when you get one, you’ve got to try to take advantage of it, I guess.”
For Robinson it was an uneven Sunday ride amid an uneven and trying season.
Having lost his rotation role after January finger surgery and a breakout by teammate Max Strus, Robinson was in the midst of disappointment prior to his Sunday flexion
Through three periods he did not have a single statistic other than a foul, not even a shot attempt, with the Heat somehow outscored by 20 in the 6:48 he had been on the court.
And then came the fourth quarter, with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in his 10:34, playing as closer, the Heat outscoring the Nuggets by 14 over that span.
So, yes, mean mug and flex.
Because, if not on the NBA’s biggest stage, then when?
“Mostly just try to play with a certain level of joy,” he said of his manic moment. “I feel like I play my best when I’m having fun, and I’m always going to try to be respectful with it but having fun and enjoying just this stage.
“This is an incredible stage to be on as a player. That is when you dream about, so it doesn’t make any sense to get here and not enjoy it.”
So there he was, the unincredible Hulk leaving teammates almost green with envy.
“I love it, man,” teammate Kevin Love said. “He can be one of those guys who just breaks a game open. We’ve seen that from him throughout these playoffs. His consistency and confidence has been there.
“When you try to put him in a box with how his game is, he just continues to grow within it. He does a lot of things that people don’t know he has. They see him as a shooter, but he is cutting to the hoop, he’s putting the ball on the floor, he’s hitting a drop pass to Bam [Adebayo] and he’s using his size to get to the rim on those cuts and put the ball down. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
The fact that Robinson’s 8-0 streak included a driving and-one three-point play against grizzled veteran Jeff Green only further played into the muscled moment, the second time in a week he paused to appreciate his own success, having cupped hand to ear to egg on the crowd a week ago in Boston during the Heat’s Game 7 victory in the Eastern Conference finals.
“He’s ignitable,” teammate Gabe Vincent said. “We have a number of guys that are like that. But he does it in a special way. And, you know, when he starts cutting to the rim and finishing at the basket, it helps a lot, too.”