Nikola Jokic, who signed the first performance of 30 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in NBA history, and Jamal Murray, with 28 points, led the resounding 109-94 victory of the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at the field of The Miami Heat with which Michael Malone's men took a 2-1 lead in the Finals.
In the first of the two games at the Kaseya Center in Miami, the Nuggets retook the field advantage in the series by imposing their physical power and grabbing 65 rebounds to the Heat's 41. They are now two wins away from lifting the first title in their history to heaven in its debut in an NBA Finals.
Jokic finished the game with 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists and Murray added another triple double of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets. Never, in the history of the NBA, had two teammates signed two triple doubles in the Finals. He also highlighted the performance of rookie Christian Braun, who contributed fifteen points with seven of eight shots.
In the Heat, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Bam Adebayo signed a double double of 22 points and 17 rebounds. Caleb Martin, with ten points, was the third best scorer for Miami, which missed a better group contribution. The Heat finished with a modest 37% (34 of 92) shooting from the field, while the Nuggets, despite their 5 of 18 3-point shooting, were above 50% (41 of 80).
It was played in a vibrant Kaseya Center, with stars like soccer player Neymar Junior, Heat glory Dwyane Wade, former Lakers Magic Johnson and singer Shakira in the arena. All this, while waiting for Lionel Messi, who announced this Wednesday his signing for Inter Miami. Butler exchanged heartfelt hugs with Wade and Neymar before kick-off and was quick to take center stage, scoring ten points in the first period.
The Heat came out to bite, but the Nuggets, with a great start from Murray (8 of Denver's first 12 points) and with a Jokic who was already close to double double in twelve minutes (10 points and 7 rebounds), did not take long to reply. Denver shot with better quality, above 50%, although without connecting a triple, but the Heat, led by Butler and with a great basket from Kyle Lowry, closed the first period with a tie at 24.
Spoelstra's 1-3-1 defense and his intense pressure ignited the stands, which celebrated Caleb Martin's two consecutive three-pointers at the beginning of the second period (35-33) and a great steal by Lowry from Jokic as goals, launching into the floor. He did the same when Bam Adebayo connected a tremendous 'tap-in' for Miami's 44-42, but in all those cases Jamal Murray dressed as a killjoy for the locals.
He silenced the atmosphere with twelve points and three-pointers of a very high level of difficulty that not only kept the Nuggets in the spotlight, but also prevented the Heat's confidence from skyrocketing. The Nuggets took a five-point advantage (53-48) to the locker room, but more than that margin, it was their offensive numbers and rebounds that reflected a problem for Miami.
Murray already had twenty points at halftime (8 of 13 shooting) and Jokic was already close to a triple double, with more assists halfway through the game than in the entire second game at Ball Arena (14 points, twelve rebounds and seven assists).
And the bad signs turned to fire in the third quarter, as the Nuggets revved up to a 6-0 run that gave them a double-digit lead for the first time all night. With twelve points from an irrepressible Jokic, seven from Gordon and six from Christian Braun coming off the bench, Malone's team delivered a blow to the clash.
Braun's powerful one-handed dunk off a steal gave Denver the lead at 82-63 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Miami, with Butler in front, managed to cut it to fourteen at the end of the period to give himself a chance. But except for Butler's 5-of-6, the Heat made just three field goals in those 12 minutes.
Trouble that followed in the fourth quarter, when the Nuggets went 11-4 in 3 1/2 minutes at Braun's pace that gave them a 21-point lead at 93-72, forcing Spoelstra's timeout and thwarting the ambitions of Heat comeback.
The Nuggets continued their unquestionable rebounding dominance and Jokic, with his scoring festival to maintain a 16-point margin for the Nuggets with 3.24 to play.
The Heat, committed to the end, took advantage of a drop in concentration by the Nuggets to get within nine points with less than two minutes to go, with Butler already on the bench. However, Miami, the team that achieved the most victories this year after trailing by more than ten points in the fourth quarters, could not perform another miracle.
The Nuggets sealed a resounding victory at the Kaseya Center and regained home field advantage in the series. They forced Spoelstra to pull the board again in an attempt to contain his power and avoid another loss in Game 4, which would offer Denver the match point in Colorado.
