The Denver Nuggets on Friday moved within one win of their first NBA title, beating the Miami Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
Aaron Gordon starred for Denver, putting up 27 points, while Nikola Jokic added 23. The Nuggets, could secure the championship with a home victory in Game 5 tomorrow.
It was a convincing victory for Denver, who were superior in every aspect and had key contributions from across the court, this time by no means reliant on Jokic and Jamaal Murray, with Gordon in particular a thorn in Miami’s side throughout.
Photo: Kyle Terada-USA Today
As well as his 11 for 15 shooting, Gordon claimed seven rebounds with six assists and two steals.
“I thought Aaron Gordon was huge all night long. He brought his hardhat tonight and was just a warrior on both ends for us,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “Truly a team win. We’ve done our job, but we’re not celebrating like we’ve done anything yet.”
“We know we’re going to have to go home and turn off the TV, the radio, don’t read the papers, don’t listen to everybody telling you how great you are, because we haven’t done a damn thing yet,” Malone said. “We have to win another game to be world champions, and we’re going to do that by simply taking it one quarter at a time.”
“We stay true to our identity, we’ll give ourselves a great chance to do that,” he added.
The eighth-seeded Heat have made a habit of comebacks and upsets during their run to the finals, but they again looked clear second best against Michael Malone’s outstanding team.
Questions had been asked of the Nuggets after they lost Game 2 on their home court, but they leave Miami with two road victories and need one win from three games to clinch the crown.
Denver were up by four at the half, but as in Wednesday’s encounter they took a firm of grip of proceedings during the third quarter where they moved 13 points ahead.
The Nuggets got a scare when Jokic tweaked an ankle in the first quarter and had to cope without the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player for a 5-minute spell in the fourth when he was benched by Malone after picking up a fifth foul with 9 minutes, 23 seconds left.
However, Miami failed to take advantage, continuing to miss baskets on transition plays and unable to exploit the lack of the Serbian’s presence in the paint.
The Heat closed to within 86-81 before Murray drained a huge three, and when Jokic came back with 4 minutes, 9 seconds left, the Nuggets were up nine. Bruce Brown delivered down the stretch, with three baskets, ending with 21 points on eight of 11 shooting from the field as the Nuggets raced toward the finish line.
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