MIAMI – Never before had two players on the same team scored 30-point triple-doubles in the same game. Never in the regular season. Never in the playoffs. Certainly never in the NBA Finals.
Until now.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray made history Wednesday night — and the Denver Nuggets are just two wins away from making real history as well.
Jokic and Murray became the first teammates in NBA Finals history to both hit triple-doubles, and the Nuggets reclaimed the lead in the series by beating the Miami Heat 109-94 in Game 3.
“By far the greatest accomplishment as a duo in seven years together,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone after his team was two wins away from their first title in Denver.
Jokic finished the game with 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists — the first game of its kind in NBA Finals history, or at least the first since assists were tracked. Murray had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and grabbed the rebound he needed with nine seconds left.
The Nuggets overtook the Heat 58-33 to take a 2-1 lead. Game 4 is Friday in Miami.
“I’m just glad we won the game,” said Jokic. “It was a big event for us because they won in our arena. We just didn’t want to go down 1-2.”
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points for Miami and Bam Adebayo finished the game with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Caleb Martin added 10 points.
“We have to come out with more energy and effort and that’s fixable,” Butler said. “That’s up to us as a group.”
Jokic and Murray combined for 24 field goals; Miami had 34. Jokic and Murray combined for 31 rebounds; Miami had 33. Jokic and Murray combined for 20 assists; Miami had just as many.
Somehow the Heat know they have to find an answer before Friday.
“It’s not an easy task,” Butler said. “But if we want to win, we have to find out.”
Miami was the comeback king of this playoff — seven rallies in games from at least 12 points behind. The Heat were 14 points down at the start of the fourth period and Malone reminded his club of Miami’s penchant for comebacks.
“They won the fourth quarter in the first two games,” Malone said. “Tonight we win the fourth quarter, we win the game.”
His team listened.
The lead eventually reached 21, the result was never seriously in doubt and Jokic appeared to be back on pace. The Heat closed in on nine points with a 3-point shot from Duncan Robinson with 1:22 to go, but it wasn’t an epic finish for Miami. Murray and Jokic had the nuggets too far ahead to be caught.
“You have to expect that there will be top talent in the final,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “And these two guys are top talent.”
Officially, Jokic is now the seventh player to record two triple-doubles in the same final. Magic Johnson and LeBron James each made it to three different finals. Draymond Green, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Butler all had streaks that included two triple-doubles.
It was Jokic’s tenth triple-double of the playoffs, extending his record in a single season, and he didn’t let anything Miami throw his way. He finished 12-21 from the floor, 7-8 from the line and played 44 minutes.
“We were more and more focused,” said Jokic.
Christian Braun was great for the Nuggets off the bench, scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes. Aaron Gordon added 11 for Denver.
And afterwards they both marveled at what their stars did in Game 3.
“It’s great, man. It’s great,” Gordon said. “This is a dynamic duo.”
Braun added, “I would say they do that in every game.”
Miami never led in the second half. A dunk from Adebayo gave the Heat a 44-42 lead with 3:18 to go at halftime, before a three from Murray marked the seventh and final lead change of the evening. It was 53-48 at halftime before Denver extended their lead into double digits for the first time early in the third period and went on to lead by 19 points as the period progressed.
The Heat stole the home game by winning Game 2 in Denver, a game where Murray had a chance to force overtime with a 3-point try that ended up failing. The Nuggets are now back in the lead and there was no hangover in Game 2 on Wednesday.
“Not just me,” Murray said. “Everyone has recovered.”
TIP INS
Nuggets: Denver used Reggie Jackson in the first quarter and went deep nine times in the first 12 minutes for the first time since Game 2 of the West Finals. … Denver hadn’t lost back-to-back games to Miami since March 14 and November 30, 2016. Jokic played in both games, with Murray playing the second early in his rookie season.
Heat: It was the first Finals game in Miami since 2014. The Heat did not have “home games” in the 2020 Finals games, which were played in the NBA’s restart bubble near Orlando. … Wednesday marked the 11th anniversary of LeBron James’ 45-point, 15-rebound and five-assist game in Boston in Game 6 of the East Finals — preventing elimination. The Heat won Game 7 and went on to defeat Oklahoma City for James’ first title.
HASLEM RECORD
Miami’s Udonis Haslem set a record in his 20th and final season. He became the oldest player to ever play in the NBA Finals, surpassing the age of 42 years and 58 days set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on June 13, 1989.
Haslem turns 43 on Friday. He played the last 29.8 seconds.
RARE COMPANY
Jokic had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the first quarter. The only other players in the past 25 years to do so in a quarterfinal game were Stephen Curry (12-7-5) for Golden State in the third quarter against Cleveland on June 4, 2017 and Shaquille O’Neal (12-7- 3) for the Los Angeles Lakers in the second quarter against Philadelphia on June 8, 2001.
CELEBRITY WATCH
Former Heat player and NBA champion Mike Miller — now an agent — was at the game along with one of his clients, Orlando Magic’s Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero. Banchero tweeted “The game hasn’t even started, I’m star-struck in here.”
DJ Khaled was in attendance, along with football greats Neymar and Paul Pogba (on the day Lionel Messi signed to play for Inter Miami), Shakira, Magic Johnson, J. Cole (who played a role in helping Caleb Martin in to bring the Heat) and Dwyane Wade – who played for Miami’s titular teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
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