Jokic and Murray make history in Miami as Denver advances 2-1 in the Finals

In a record-breaking night for stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 109-94 on Wednesday night to retake control of the NBA Finals 2-1 on aggregate.

Jokic added 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists, a statistic never seen in a Finals, and Jamal Murray another 34-10-10 triple-double to command a solvent performance by the Nuggets, who recovered from Sunday's unexpected loss as local.

The Serbian center and the Canadian point guard are the first pair of teammates to achieve a triple double each in the same Finals game.

Their performance is unprecedented overall in NBA history, as no other duo had ever posted a triple double with at least 30 points each in either the playoffs or regular season.

“This is by far their best performance as a duo in their seven years together,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.. “A lot of players play each other but these guys play for each other.”

Jimmy Butler's Heat (28 points) and Bam Adebayo (22) could not find a way to stop the devastating duo and now they will try to equalize the tie in the fourth game, again on Friday in Miami.

– Records 'don't matter' –

The Heat hoped to capitalize on Sunday's win by taking advantage of the electric atmosphere at the Kaseya Center, where 19,000 passionate fans pushed them through the first Finals game in Miami since 2014.

Erik Spoelstra's pupils, who in 2020 were runners-up in the Finals played behind closed doors at Disney World (Orlando), gave their faces in a competitive first half but in the second they found themselves surpassed by some Nuggets masterfully led by Jokic.

The Serbian center, who already holds the record for triple doubles in a playoff with 10, is the first player to accumulate at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in Finals history.

“To be honest, (that brand) I don't care much. I'm glad I won a match. It was important to us because they won on our court, so we didn't want to go 2-1 down,” said the double MVP award winner.

“Now we have to win the next one, that's our mentality.. Win the next one and that's how we're going to keep on going,” said Jokic, launched to give Denver the first franchise ring.

“We didn't play at our best level tonight,” Jimmy Butler acknowledged on his side.

“We have to go out with more energy and effort, and that can be corrected. That depends on us as a group,” stressed the leader of the Heat, surpassed in the paint with 33 rebounds captured by 58 for his rival.

– Night of stars in Miami –

Wednesday's game was played on a day that was doubly special for the city of Miami, as it not only hosted its first NBA Finals game in almost a decade, but also during the day celebrated the confirmation of the signing of Lionel Messi by Inter Miami Soccer League (MLS).

The Brazilian Neymar, former teammate of the Argentine star at FC Barcelona and at Paris Saint-Germain, was one of the celebrities who went to the Kaseya Center and in the afternoon he was shooting some shots with his friend Jimmy Butler.

French footballer Paul Pogba (Juventus) and music stars such as Shakira and J. Cole.

The Heat started the game by trying their best to isolate Jokic, which allowed Murray to attack his rim aggressively for 8 of his team's first 12 points.

The even first half led to a dizzying exchange of blows between the stars of both teams. Adebayo roused the crowd from their seats with a forceful dunk on Jokic and then Murray nailed a spectacular three-pointer in an unstoppable relay of lead changes.

The Nuggets went into the break with a slim five-point lead (53-48), but on the return they launched the great acceleration thanks to Jokic and the surprising performance of rookie substitute Christian Braun, who made the most of his 19 minutes. on track to score 15 points.

With a steal in his field and crushing only the local hoop, Braun put a distance of 19 points (82-63) at the edge of the end of the third quarter.

The Heat, who never give up, made a last-minute push when Jimmy Butler was already resting on the bench.

A Duncan Robinson 3-pointer brought them within 9 points and, after an offensive foul by Murray, they had their next possession, but Adebayo missed a shot from midrange and the Heat took a knee in the already half-empty stands.

The last seconds served for Udonis Haslem to jump onto the track and become, at 42 years old, the oldest player to play in a Finals.