Published By: Ritayan Basu
Last Updated: June 10, 2023, 09:12 IST
NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat (AP)
Denver Nuggets defeated Miami Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals championship series
The Denver Nuggets moved within one win of their first NBA title on Thursday, beating Miami 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
Aaron Gordon starred for Denver, putting up 27 points. Nikola Jokic added 23 for the Nuggets, who can secure the championship with a home victory in game five on Monday.
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 two 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 had to cope without Jokic for a five minute spell in the fourth quarter when he was benched by Malone after picking up a fifth foul.
But 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.
Bruce Brown delivered down the stretch, ending with 21 points on eight of 11 shooting from the field as the Nuggets raced towards the finish line.
“Today was a team effort. I can’t even name one person,” said Denver guard Jamal Murray. “Everybody locked in.
“We’ve got one more to go,” added Murray, who had 15 points and 12 assists — maintaining his record of double figure assists in each game in the series.
“I give all my credits to my teammates. They did a great job. There’s a great team effort on both ends. We’ve got to do that for one more game and we get our goal,” he said.
“We just need to stay level-headed, stay focused”.
Miami, who were outgunned in three point shooting 14-8, were led by Jimmy Butler’s 25 points with Bam Adebayo adding 20.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
