With a monster triple-double Game 3 from Nikola Jokic (32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists) and Jamal Murray (34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists), the Denver Nuggets regained home court advantage and beat the Miami Heat 109-94 in the NBA Finals this morning.
The Denver duo was unstoppable and Jokic and Murray are the first teammates to record 30-point triple-doubles in the same game in NBA Finals history.
Jamal Murray has also become the third player ever to record at least 10 assists in three straight games of an NBA Finals series, joining six-time NBA champions Magic Johnson, who achieved that feat six times, and Bob Cousy, who did it in 1959.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are the first duo to each drop a triple-double in an #NBAFinals game ?? pic.twitter.com/xslQ9ju9lA
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2023
To Jokic it was a team effort: “It's not just us, it's the team, and like I said even before the series started, Denver Nuggets need to beat Miami, not me and Jamal and whoever is on the other side. We as a group need to beat them.”
Nuggets’ Christian Braun also had a standout night, closing out the game with 15 points and making some key defensive plays down the stretch. The Nuggets shot 51 per cent from the floor and outrebounded the Heat 65-41.
Meanwhile, Game 3 was a different outcome to what the Heat would have hoped for. They were unable to exhibit the defensive and offensive prowess they did in Game 2, especially in the fourth quarter when they trailed by 17 points.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 28 and 22 points respectively, but struggled on the offensive end of the floor and were the only Heat players who scored in double figures. Adebayo also added 17 rebounds.
“We didn't play our best tonight. I feel like we just got to come out with more energy and effort, and that's correctible. That's on us as a group. No X's and O's can fix that,” Butler said after the 15-point loss.
What began as a close game through the first two quarters, ended up being a more one-sided matchup in the second half. Heat’s Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson, who had some big plays in Denver earlier this week, finished with 16 points combined.
The series continues Friday night (Saturday, 02:30 a.m. CAT on ESPN, on DStv and NBA League Pass) with Game 4, before the best-of-seven series returns to Denver on Monday.