Staff Writer
The Denver Nuggets defeated Miami 108-95 on Friday to grab a 3-1 series lead in the best-of-seven finals, bringing them one victory away from winning their first NBA championship.
For Denver, Aaron Gordon was the star, scoring 27 points. For the Nuggets, who can win the championship with a victory in game five at home on Monday, Nikola Jokic contributed 23 points.
Denver won easily because they were superior in every way and had important contributions from everyone on the court. This time, they weren’t at all dependent on Jokic and Jamaal Murray, and Gordon in particular was a constant pain for Miami.
Gordon not only shot 11 for 15, but he also grabbed seven rebounds, had six assists, and had two steals.
“All night long, I thought Aaron Gordon was big. He was a fighter for us tonight and brought his hardhat, according to Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
A true team victory. While we have completed our task, we are not celebrating as though we have more to do.
We are aware that we will need to go home and stop watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, and listening to other people praise our accomplishments because we haven’t done a single thing.
“We only need to win one more game to become world champions, and we’ll do that by taking it to the fourth quarter.”
We are aware that we will need to go home and stop watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, and listening to other people praise our accomplishments because we haven’t done a single thing.
“We simply need to take it one quarter at a time if we want to win another game and become world champions.
“We stay true to our identity, we’ll give ourselves a great chance to do that,” he continued.
Despite their penchant for comebacks and upsets on their way to the championship game, the eighth-seeded Heat once again came up short against Michael Malone’s elite squad.
The Nuggets had faced criticism after dropping game two at home, but they now have two away wins and only need one more victory to win the championship.
Denver led by four points at the break, but just as on Wednesday, they regained control of the game in the third quarter, when they increased their lead to 13 points.
Jokic gave the Nuggets a fright by tweaking his ankle in the first quarter, and they had to manage without the two-time NBA MVP for a stretch of five minutes in the fourth when Malone benched him after he picked up his fifth foul with 9:23 remaining.
Miami, however, was unable to profit from the situation as they kept missing shots in transition and were unable to take advantage of the Serbian’s absence in the paint.
The Nuggets were ahead nine points when Jokic returned with 4:09 remaining after the Heat had reduced the gap to 86-81 after Murray’s clutch three-pointer.
As the Nuggets pushed for the win, Bruce Brown came through down the stretch with three baskets, finishing with 21 points on 8 of 11 field goal attempts.
“Today was a team effort,” he said. Jamal Murray, a guard for Denver, remarked, “I can’t even name one individual. “Everyone is inside.
Murray, who finished with 15 points and 12 assists to keep his series record of double digit assists in every game, said, “We’ve got one more to go.”
“I credit my teammates with all of my success. They performed admirably. Both ends are working really well as a team. We need to continue doing that for one more game before we succeed, he remarked.
We only need to maintain our composure and our attention.
As the Nuggets pushed for the win, Bruce Brown came through down the stretch with three baskets, finishing with 21 points on 8 of 11 field goal attempts.
“Today was a team effort,” he said. Jamal Murray, a guard for Denver, remarked, “I can’t even name one individual. “Everyone is inside.
Murray, who finished with 15 points and 12 assists to keep his series record of double digit assists in every game, said, “We’ve got one more to go.”
“I credit my teammates with all of my success. They performed admirably. Both ends are working really well as a team. We need to continue doing that for one more game before we succeed, he remarked.
We only need to maintain our composure and our attention.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points to lead Miami, which was outscored 14-8 in three-point shooting. Bam Adebayo added 20 points.
Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of Miami, insisted that the series still had chance to change. “Every time we felt like we got it to six or eight, they were able to push it to 12,” he remarked.
“Our team is highly competitive. We’ve always done things the hard way, and that’s exactly how we’ll have to do things now as well.
He made an allusion to the Miami area code, saying, “All we are going to concentrate on is getting this thing back to the 305.” “Bring this back to Miami and things might change.”
