MIAMI—The denver nuggets I needed someone who wasn’t Nicholas Jokic either jamal murray take them in Game 4, and because Aaron Gordon grateful, they are now on the verge of their first NBA championship.
Gordon scored a career-high 27 points in the playoffs as the Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead into the 2023 NBA Finals. Denver can win the first title in franchise history on Monday at home. Game 5 is at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Jokić wasn’t far behind in Game 4 with 23 points and 12 boards, but headed to the bench after committing his fifth foul with 9:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and Denver up 10.
“The guys stepped up,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “We were up 13 going into the fourth quarter, they started 8-0 and that coincides with Nikola getting his fifth foul. So they came out aggressively. They have us hot on their heels and usually in the regular season when Nikola would come out things would go crazy.
“But I can say that not just tonight but throughout these playoffs, no matter how many games we’ve played now, the minutes without Nikola have gone really well. …Truly a team victory. We are not satisfied. We are going home. We know we have a lot of work to do, and we’re going to take it one quarter at a time.”
During the five minutes Jokic sat on the bench, the closest the Heat came was six points – the big buckets to keep them at bay were a jeff green 3 and then a layup and free throw from bruce brown with 3:59 remaining for a 10-point lead.
Murray extended his record streak to four games with at least 10 assists in his first Finals, finishing with 15 points and 12 assists on a tough night on 5-of-17 shooting. He trails only Magic Johnson in consecutive final games with at least 10 assists, and didn’t commit a turnover in Game 4.
“We’re ready to win a championship,” Murray said. “We have the tools to do it. He has been on our minds for a while.”
Brown finished with 21 points off the bench, 11 of them in the fourth quarter.
Gordon asserted himself in the intermission quarters, with 15 points in the second and another nine in the third, helping the Nuggets take that 13-point lead going into the final frame. He added seven rebounds and six assists for his ninth career game with at least 25, 5 and 5. Four of those games have been since Jan. 15.
“I thought Aaron Gordon was huge all night,” Malone said. “He brought his helmet tonight and he was just a warrior on both ends for us.”
The Heat, who are on the brink of not becoming the first team in league history to win a title as a No. 8 seed, were led by 25 points from jimmy butler. Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points and 11 boards, and the players on the bench Kyle Lowry (13 points), robinson duncan (12 points), and caleb martin (11 points) were strong.
starting guards gabe vincent and Max Strus combined for two points in 38 minutes. The Heat shot poorly again at home, this time shooting a 45 percent clip from the field and 8-for-25-for-3. They also committed 15 turnovers that led to 17 Nuggets points.
Jokić, who is heading towards the MVP of the final, is the first player to nba history with 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason. He racked up Friday’s numbers while battling a sore ankle after landing on Strus’ foot in the first quarter.
Play was stopped with 2:07 left in the third quarter after Adebayo hung on the rim on a dunk attempt, slightly bending the rim. This was the third game this season that the Nuggets have played with such a stoppage.
A peculiar little statistic for a franchise about to fulfill its destiny.
“We’re staying true to our identity, we’re going to give ourselves a great opportunity to do that,” Malone said.
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(Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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