Nuggets now in full command of NBA Finals, top Heat 108-95 for 3-1 lead

MIAMI (AP)— Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and theDenver Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championshipby beating the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 leadin the title series.

Bruce Brownscored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who took both games inMiami to grab complete command. They’ll have three chances to winone game for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them inwhat’s sure to be a raucous atmosphere for Game 5 on Mondaynight.

JamalMurray had 15 points and 12 assists — his fourth consecutivedouble-digit assist game — for Denver.

JimmyButler scored 25 points for Miami, which has now fallen into 3-1holes in each of its last three finals appearances — this onejoining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 reboundsfor the Heat, while Kyle Lowry had 13 points.

The Heatwalked off the floor in silence, fully aware of how much troublethey’re in now.

The Nuggetswere overwhelming favorites to start the series, for obviousreasons. Denver was the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed; Miami wasthe Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed. The Nuggets had won nine ofthe last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, and theirrun of success over the Heat has continued through four games ofthe finals.

Denver ledby 13 going into the fourth, and Miami came out for the finalquarter with appropriate desperation. The Heat scored the firsteight points, Jokic committed his fifth foul and had to go to thebench with 9:24 left — and it was down to 86-81 when Butlerconverted a three-point play with 8:42 remaining.

But theNuggets – who fell apart in the fourth quarter of Game 2 for theirlone loss of the series – didn’t fold, even with their two-time MVPstill out. Murray made a 3-pointer to stop Miami’s 8-0 spurt, andJeff Green made a huge corner 3 from near the Heat bench for a94-85 edge with 6:21 left.

Jokicchecked out with Denver up 10. He came back with the Nuggets upnine.

Miamididn’t take advantage of that chance, and now finds itself on thewrong end of history. Teams that take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finalshave won 35 out of 36 previous times, and the Heat will have tobuck that trend to keep Denver from winning its title.

The Nuggetseven survived a scare. Jokic tweaked his right ankle when he landedon the back of Max Strus’ foot midway through the opening quarter.He remained in the game after it happened, briefly retreated to theDenver locker room before the start of the second quarter andplayed the rest of the way with no evident issues.

TIP-INS

Nuggets:Murray played with tape protecting the bottom of his left hand,thanks to a nasty floor burn he got in Game 3. … It was Denver’s25th win on the road this season, tying a franchise record set lastseason. ... Michael Porter Jr. scored 11 for the Nuggets.

Heat: Itwas retiring 20-year veteran Udonis Haslem’s 43rd birthday androokie Nikola Jovic’s 20th birthday. Jovic was 58 days old whenHaslem signed his first Heat contract. … If it was Miami’s homefinale this season, then the Heat went 613-299 in its home arenaduring his career. … Miami started the playoffs 6-0 at home. TheHeat are 0-4 on their home floor since.

SLOWSTART

Miami led21-20 after one quarter. The 41 combined points were the fewest inthe first quarter of the last 24 finals games; the first quarter ofGame 4 of the Toronto-Golden State series in 2019 had 40points.

CELEBWATCH

Kentuckycoach John Calipari was in the crowd, as was Academy Award winnerForest Whitaker, two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las VegasAces, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields and twins Haley andHanna Cavinder — who helped the Miami Hurricanes make the EliteEight in this year’s NCAA women’s tournament.