Game 4 of the NBA Finals proved to be an eventful one around the net — but maybe a little too much.
The Heat’s Bam Adebayo went up for a dunk with 2:07 left in the third quarter, and not only did he miss the dunk in the 108-95 loss to the Nuggets in Miami on Friday night, he even made the basket crooked.
Adebayo hung onto the basket for a maybe beat too long, leaving the basket off-kilter.
Officials stopped play to fix the net, taking a little over five minutes to correct the issue.
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic tried to fix the rim himself by hanging on the right side of it, hoping it would do the trick.
“Nikola Jokic, he doesn’t want to stop, ‘I’ll fix it’,” play-by-play man Mike Breen said during the delay.
Jokic — as good as he has been for the Nuggets, who now hold a 3-1 series lead — could not get the job done this time.
Eventually, NBA officials brought out ladders to make sure the rim was level, and after some jostling, it was deemed to OK play.
Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson had fun on the ABC broadcast making light of the unique situation during the intense game.
“Am I nitpicking that I don’t want a guy in a suit and tie doing that job?” Jackson asked.
“Well, they got five assistants rummaging through their toolbox,” Van Gundy replied.
“Clearly, they feel it’s just off a little bit. To the naked eye, it looks fine,” Breen said.
“The man in the suit came through,” Van Gundy said when all was fixed.
But after the net issue was remedied, the delay continued for a few minutes after a fan sitting near the court was carted off the court on a stretcher.
It was not immediately clear what led to the fan needing medical assistance.
Regarding crooked rims, this was not the first Nuggets game delayed this year by a basket issue.
Rob Williams of the Celtics went up for a big dunk during a January game in Denver that caused a delay that lasted nearly 40 minutes.
In both games, the Nuggets came out victorious.
Despite being on the losing end, Adebayo did finish with a double-double, recording 20 points and 11 rebounds.
But it was not enough as the Nuggets now sit one win away from their first-ever NBA crown.
