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Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have become the first teammates in NBA Finals history to both record triple-doubles as Denver reclaimed the lead in the series by beating Miami 109-94 in Game 3.
Jokic finished with 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists on Wednesday – the first such game in NBA Finals history, or at least the first since assists were tracked.
Murray had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, getting the rebound he needed with nine seconds remaining.
The Nuggets outrebounded the Heat 58-33, and took a 2-1 lead. Game 4 is on Friday in Miami.
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points for Miami and Bam Adebayo finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Caleb Martin added 10 points for Miami.
Miami have been the comeback kings of these playoffs – seven rallies in games after trailing by at least 12 points.
The Heat were down by 14 going into the fourth, and Nuggets coach Michael Malone reminded his club of Miami’s penchant for comebacks.
“First two games, they won the fourth quarter,” Malone said. “Tonight, we win the fourth quarter, we win the game.”
His team listened.
The lead eventually reached 21, the outcome never seriously in doubt, with Jokic looking very much like he’s back in cruise control.
The Heat got within nine on a 3-pointer by Duncan Robinson with 1:22 left, but there was no epic finish for Miami.
Officially, Jokic is now the seventh player to have two triple-doubles in the same finals. Magic Johnson and LeBron James each did it in three different finals.
Draymond Green, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Butler all had one title series with two triple-doubles.
It was his 10th triple-double of these playoffs, extending his single-season record, and he was unbothered by whatever Miami threw his way. Jokic finished 12 for 21 from the floor, 7 for 8 from the line, playing 44 minutes.
Christian Braun was tremendous off the bench for the Nuggets, scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes. Aaron Gordon added 11 for Denver.
Miami never led in the second half. A dunk by Adebayo put the Heat up 44-42 with 3:18 left in the half, before a 3-pointer by Murray represented the seventh and final lead change of the night.
It was 53-48 at half-time, before Denver pushed the lead to double digits for the first time early in the third and wound up leading by as many as 19 later in that period.
Miami’s Udonis Haslem, who turns 43 on Friday in his 20th and final season, set a record for becoming the oldest player to appear in the NBA Finals, breaking the mark of 42 years, 58 days set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on June 13, 1989. He played the final 29.8 seconds.
Jokic had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the first quarter.
The only other players in the last 25 years to have that in any quarter of a finals 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 LA Lakers in the second quarter against Philadelphia on June 8, 2001.
© AAP
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