NUGGETS MOVE ONE WIN FROM FIRST NBA TITLE
GORDON, JOKIC, BROWN LEAD DENVER; MURRAY HAS ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
MIAMI — The mission for the Nuggets was clear: Come to Miami, get two wins and head back home with a chance to finally become NBA champions. It’s officially there for the taking.
The 47-year wait for Denver might be over as soon as Monday, with Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets now just one win away from getting the title that he has wanted for so long. Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Jokic added 23 and the Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
“We haven’t done a damn thing yet,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We have to win another game to be world champions.”
Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who won their fifth straight road game to grab complete command. They’ll have three chances to win one game for a title, two of those in Denver.
Jamal Murray had 15 points and 12 assists — his fourth consecutive double-digit assist game — for Denver.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Miami, which has now fallen into 3-1 holes in each of its last three finals appearances — this one joining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, while Kyle Lowry added 13 points.
“Now we’re in a must-win situation, every single game — which we’re capable of,” Butler said. “It’s not impossible.”
The Nuggets were overwhelming favorites to start the series, for obvious reasons. Denver was the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed; Miami was the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed. The Nuggets had won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, and their run of success over the Heat has continued through four games of the finals.
Denver led by 13 going into the fourth, and Miami came out for the final quarter with appropriate desperation. The Heat scored the first eight points, Jokic committed his fifth foul and had to go to the bench with 9:24 left — and it was down to 86-81 when Butler converted a three-point play with 8:42 left.
But the Nuggets didn’t fold, even with their two-time MVP still out. Murray made a three-pointer to stop Miami’s 8-0 spurt, and Jeff Green made a huge corner three for a 9485 edge with 6:21 left.
“We have guys that can step up, night in and night out,” Gordon said.
Miami now finds itself on the wrong end of history. Teams that take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals have won 35 out of 36 previous times, and the Heat will have to buck that trend to keep Denver from winning its title.
“This is what this year’s been all about for this group, so definitely not going to hang our heads or quit,” Heat guard Duncan Robinson said. “That’s not an option. It’s not going to happen. So we’ll band together and get on this flight tomorrow and find a way to figure it out.” ✶