By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Denver Nuggets proved they are a complete team and need one more “w” to seal the deal.
Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and 12 rebounds while Denver moved one win away from their first ever NBA championship by beating the Miami Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who won both games so far in Miami. They’ll have three chances to win one more for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them on Monday night.
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, joining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, while Kyle Lowry had 13 points.
Denver led by 13 going into the fourth period, and Miami came out for the final quarter trying to come back.
The Heat scored the first eight points, Jokic committed his fifth foul and had to go to the bench with 9:24 left and Miami made it a five-point game (86-81) when Butler converted a three-point play with 8:42 remaining.
But the Nuggets didn’t back down. Murray made a 3-pointer to stop Miami’s 8-0 run, and Jeff Green made a huge corner three for a 94-85 edge with 6:21 left. Jokic returned on the floor and the game was practically over.