Gabe Vincent doesn't 'give a damn' about the Miami Heat's doubters

Reports of the Miami Heat's demise proved to be greatly exaggerated on Sunday night, as the Eastern Conference champions rallied to stun the Denver Nuggets 111-108 at Ball Arena and tie the NBA Finals at one game apiece.

The series now shifts to south Florida for Games 3 and 4, and the Heat will look to take the lead in a Finals series for the first time since 2013, when they won it last.

If you listen to Heat guard Gabe Vincent, you might just get the sense Miami expects Game 3 to go the way of Game 2 -- another win for the underdogs.

Vincent's focus: Three more wins

Speaking on NBA TV, Vincent told former Heat star Shaquille O'Neal that he's not listening to viewers writing off Miami after its Game 1 loss.

When asked whether it bothered him that the Heat have not gotten national respect despite their miracle run to the NBA Finals, Vincent -- undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara -- claimed he spoke on behalf of his team when he said "we don't give a damn" about earning that kind of acknowledgment.

"We don't give a damn about (any of the other stuff," he said. "We just want to get four wins."

Vincent is "special," says Spoelstra

Vincent's coach Erik Spoelstra told the media postgame that the 26-year-old California native deserves more headlines and plaudits than he's received thus far.

"He's a special guy, he really is. ... He was a gunslinger, a two guard. We wanted to develop him into a combo guard, somebody who could organize us and be an irrtiant defensively," Spoelstra said. "I think that's the toughest thing to do in this league, turn a (shooting guard) into a (point guard). And he openly embraced that."

Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley found a gem in late bloomer Vincent, who only broke into Miami's starting lineup when Kyle Lowry went down with a knee injury in February. Vincent will seek consecutive games with 20 or more points when the Heat host the Nuggets at Kaseya Center on Wednesday.

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