While Michael Malone was down the hallway embarrassing the Nuggets for a “lack of effort” late Sunday night, I wandered into the corner of Ball Arena occupied by the Miami Heat.

You’re not going to like this. “It’s an ‘I don’t give a damn’ factor” is how Heat star Jimmy Butler described a 111-108 upset of the Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Heat are not scared. They are the opposite of scared. They are totally comfortable with an NBA Finals tied 1-1 that Butler was talking about soccer: “Probably my favorite sport.”

Miami stunned the Nuggets with over 19,000 Nuggets fanatics telling them they stink, the refs stink, their no-income-tax stinks. And the Heat, who were 8-point ‘dogs, got stronger.

Miami was not surprised Nikola Jokic had 41 points and the Nuggets lost. Not surprised to soil Denver’s playoff record at home (now 9-1). Not surprised they were better in the fourth quarter — a time when Jokic and Jamal Murray thrive, especially in their fourth postseason together.

“When it comes down to the wire we’re strangely comfortable,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said.

See what I mean?

On a winding road to the Finals, the Nuggets flashed the disrespect card as a form of I.D. Remember the fury up and down the Front Range every time someone dared use Joker’s name in vain?

Well, it’s time to put some respect on the Heat’s name. This is no normal 8 seed. This is one of the toughest bands of brothers the NBA’S ever seen. After stealing homecourt advantage away from the top-seeded Nuggets, the Heat set a playoff record with 13 wins from an 8 seed.

The disrespect card that Malone wore like a media credential is now in the Heat’s hands.

Should Nuggets fans be worried? Ask me after Game 3 Wednesday at Kesaya Arena in Miami.

Huge game.

“If we play like that, we expect to lose,” Murray said.

The Heat beat the Nuggets at the Nuggets’ game. Miami mucked up the pace. The Heat outscored the Nuggets 36-25 in the fourth quarter. Miami’s starters whooped Denver’s.

“We liked the flow of the game and how it was going. We felt at times we had it on our terms,” Heat forward Duncan Robinson said.

Did the Nuggets stink up the joint? Not really. Malone’s correct that “Miami came in here and outworked us,” but it’s past time to give Erik Spoelstra’s Heat a little credit as well.

“Spo” is the psychologist who moonlights as the Heat coach. He embraces the advantage of a difficult road, saying Sunday night: “We all want to have that privilege of having adversity.”

Overcoming adversity is “like a muscle you work on and get better,” he said.

He appreciates the Nuggets, because he sees a lot of the Heat in the Nuggets.

“Denver has a very similar personality (to Miami),” he said.

Not on Sunday, though. The Heat discombobulated the Nuggets, and they did so in their seventh game in 18 days. That’s a lot of games in not a lot of days, and the Heat still outworked the Nuggets. Spoelstra made the Nuggets offense sound like a calculus equation.

“It’s complex,” he said.

And the Heat had the answer: let Jokic go and make the other Nuggets win. They couldn’t.

Game 2 said more about the Heat than it said about the Nuggets. Miami is smart, prideful and relentless. Stock a roster with seven undrafted players (and Jimmy Butler) and it will compete like its next paycheck depends on a loose ball.

Supermascot Rocky made his halfcourt shot. He’s 2-for2 in his NBA Finals career.

Everything else went the Heat’s way. Miami’s been the road team to start four playoff series and has managed at least a split in all four.

Likewise, it’s the first time Denver’s not up 2-0.

“We didn’t want to lose, but we lost,” said Jokic, who had 41 points and 11 rebounds in what had to be an exhausting 41 minutes of playing time.

Nuggets Nation has been whining and moaning and playing the disrespect card for a solid month now. So how about a little respect for the bulldogs who line the roster of the Heat?

“This is not the preseason. This is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals,” Malone pleaded into a microphone. “That, to me, is really, really perplexing (and) disappointing.”

Before the series, I couldn’t see how Miami upset Giannis Antetokounmpo and top-seeded Milwaukee in the East. I can see it now. The Heat are mentally tougher than their opponents. See them fighting a mountain lion, help the cat.

“I just think nobody cares on our team,” Butler said Sunday night. “We’re not worried about what anybody thinks.”

Are the Heat tougher than the Nuggets?

Standby for Game 3. Huge game, and you’re not going to like what happens if the Heat win.