Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals was critical for the Miami Heat, as the team had to defend its homecourt or else it was going to head to Denver for Game 5 with elimination on the line. Things were unsurprisingly tense in the Kaseya Center as a result, but fortunately, everyone got the chance to take a little break in the third quarter because the referees wanted to see if Bam Adebayo messed the rim up.
With the Heat trailing by eight points, Adebayo attempted to throw down over Nikola Jokic, but his attempted dunk wasn’t successful and he was hit with a basket interference for hanging on the rim while the ball was still doing its thing. Apparently, this caused the rim to bend in the slightest way possible, which caused the game to stop so the officials could check on it, even though Jokic tried to prevent this by pulling down on the opposite side of the rim.
Nikola Jokic taking matters into his own hands trying to fix the uneven rim after Bam Adebayo hung on it
pic.twitter.com/JJl6ftG7UW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 10, 2023
Ultimately, they busted out some ladders, checked the level of the rim, and everything appeared to be fine, even if someone did have to tighten up a screw or two. And after things were delayed for several minutes, which included someone getting medical attention behind the Heat bench, the game was able to resume.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/delay-game-4-heat-nuggets-rim-uneven-video/