![]() “It’s still one win,” said Jokic, who also contributed three blocks and three steals. Denver was plus-nine with the 28-year-old on the floor, and plus-four during the non-Jokic minutes. Jokic suffered what appeared to be a right ankle injury in the first quarter after landing awkwardly on the foot of Max Strus, but the center walked back to the locker room and returned after an athletic trainer re-taped the ankle. Two early fouls in the fourth quarter sent Jokic to the bench with 9:24 left to play, and he didn’t return until the 4:09 mark when the Nuggets led by nine points. But the Heat worked to limit Jokic’s impact as a playmaker, and the center finished with just four assists. The first player in NBA history to tally 250-plus rebounds and 150-plus assists in a single postseason, Jokic battled as a scorer and on the glass. NBA Finals stats: 30.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists It was a great team effort today.”Īnd now, the Top 5 in our 2023 Race to the NBA Finals MVP Ladder after Game 4: All our vets gave good energy on the bench and told us to stay locked in. Everyone that got in the game tonight hooped. Everybody is just playing for each other. “If Jokic goes out, we’ve got five other guys on the court,” Murray said. The Nuggets also limited Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami’s deadliest threats, to 3-for-8 shooting in a fourth quarter, where the Heat finished a collective 7-for-19 from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Murray ranks as just the fourth player behind Jimmy Butler, LeBron James and Jayson Tatum over the last 25 years to assist on 7 or more 3-pointers in a Finals contest. In fact, the Nuggets shot 12-for-19 off Murray’s passes, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range. Murray and Gordon came together for five dimes in the fourth quarter and 18 for the game. Brown, Gordon, Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray wouldn’t let that take place in combining for 19 of Denver’s 22 points in the fourth quarter. “Usually, in the regular season when Nikola went out, things kind of went haywire,” Malone admitted. Jokic was whistled for his fourth and fifth fouls over a span of 17 seconds. ![]() During the Heat rally, Jokic left the game after officials called the center for his fifth foul just two minutes and 36 seconds into the quarter. The outburst came in response to Miami starting the fourth quarter on its own 8-0 run to chop a 13-point Nuggets lead to six with 8:42 left. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drilled a 27-footer with 1:49 remaining to put Denver ahead by 14 during an 8-0 run that sent Heat fans scrambling for the exits at Kaseya Center. The Nuggets stymied the scrappy Heat with a trio of 20-plus point scorers, led by Aaron Gordon (game-high 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists), Jokic (23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists) and Brown (21 points), who came off the bench to rack up 11 points in the final frame on 4-for-5 shooting. We have to win another game to be world champions.”Īaron Godon and the Nuggets dominate the Heat in the 3rd quarter and head home 1 win away from their 1st NBA title.Ī total team effort like the Game 4 performance would certainly enhance Denver’s prospects. We know we’re going to have to go home, 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 d- thing yet. But we’re not celebrating like we’ve done anything yet. ![]() “The first thing I said we’re not celebrating,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. Teams seizing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals are a combined 35-1 in league history. Deservedly, Denver lands four players atop this Game 4 edition of the 2023 Race to the NBA Finals MVP Ladder, as the series heads back to Ball Arena Sunday for Game 5. The Nuggets’ late fourth-quarter feeding frenzy fueled Jokic’s sideline display of sheer jubilance as the visitors snuffed out all hopes for a Miami comeback in crunch time on the game’s biggest stage. “When he did a step-back 3, I wanted to punch him,” Jokic said. The two-time Kia MVP understandably couldn’t contain the excitement. Nikola Jokic waved a towel wildly, slamming it hard near the bench once Bruce Brown splashed the 26-foot backbreaker that punctuated Denver’s 108-95 win over Miami in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Aaron Gordon racks up 27 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists to lead Denver in the Nuggets' Game 4 victory over the Heat.
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