MIAMI (AP) — Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and the Denver Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the title series.
Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who took both games in Miami to grab complete command.
They’ll have three chances to win one game for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them coming there in what’s sure to be a raucous atmosphere for Game 5 on Monday night.
It was an extremely efficient night for Gordon, who shot 11-of-15 from the field and poured in 27 points to lead all scoreres. He added six rebounds and six assists as well as the Nuggets won, 108-95.
Denver outscored the Heat by 29 points with Gordon on the floor.
Jokic became the first player in the history of the league to record 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason.
Murray became the first player ever to record 10 or more assists in each of his first four Finals games.
After a low-scoring first quarter, the Nuggets dominated the middle two frames, taking a 13-point lead into the fourth that they wouldn't relinquish.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Miami, which has now fallen into 3-1 holes in each of its last three finals appearances.
CLOSE CALL
Jokic went to the locker room at the end of the first quarter after apparently injuring his ankle early in NBA Finals Game 4 against the Heat.
With just over two minutes left in the opening frame, Jokic landed awkwardly on the foot of Heat guard Max Strus while jumping for a rebound contested by Strus and Miami’s Kevin Love, rolling his right ankle.
Jokic re-entered the game with just under eight minutes to play in the second quarter, quickly hitting a 3-pointer.
Nikola Jokic appeared to hurt his ankle on this play.
— ESPN (@espn) June 10, 2023
He stayed in the game. pic.twitter.com/JsLw5MJjEv
