The Finals: Rookie Leads Nuggets To Victory
With a clutch performance from the Nuggets, they win the first game in Miami at the Kaseya Center with a final score of 109-94. Some big names came out to watch this dueling matchup such as legends Dwyane Wade and Magic Johnson. Soccer stars Neymar Jr. and Paul Pogba made an appearance.
Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
Nuggets had a dominant game keeping a lead throughout the majority of the game except the first quarter with a tie score. Nuggets field goal percentage was 51.3% compared to Heats 37%. In addition to last game, the Heat continued to shoot better at the three point line at 31.4%. Although they only had 4 turnovers compared to Nuggets 13, they were unable to covert those to points. Nuggets struggled at the three point line like game two going 5-18. The Heat had 7 steals compared to Nuggets 3 but still unable to convert to points.
The Nuggets have continued to break record this season with a historic performance from Nikola Jokic. He is the first player in NBA history to score 30+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 10+ assists in the finals. His game stats were 32 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists. Jokic with an astonishing 21 rebounds lead the Nuggets to have a total of 58 compared to Heats 33. Jokic achieves his 10th triple-double of the NBA postseason to add on to the record list.
Jokic was not the only Denver Nugget to score a triple-double last night. Jamal Murray had an outstanding performance scoring 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Murray went 3-6 at the three point line. Murray’s performance combined with Jokic broke history with the first teammates with 30-point triple-doubles in the same game. They had a combined 66 points, 31 rebounds, and 20 assists. Both of them played over 44 minutes total throughout the game. Within minutes left of the game Malone took out Jokic to rest but kept Murray until the end of the game with the backups. Was this some sort of punishment for him?
The star that drove the victory to the Nuggets was none other than the rookie, Christian Braun. As if Braun had read the previous article, he showed up and balled out. Braun was relatively quiet throughout the first two games in The Finals not putting up much points but found his rhythm. Christian Braun scored 15 points helping drive the win for the Nuggets. During postgame, Jokic said “I told him he won us the game tonight”. Braun has already had a very successful career with only being in his first year in the league. Prior to the NBA, Braun has won a national championship and three Big 12 titles at the University of Kansas. There has only been 5 players in NBA history that have won a championship the year after winning the college championship.
Credit: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
On the Heat side, Bam Adebayo was a key player to helping the team stay intact. He scored 13 points and had a total of 10 rebounds. According to NBA, Jokic and Bam are the first pair of players from opposite teams in the past 25 years to each record 10+ points and 10+ rebounds in the first half of a Finals game. Jimmy Butler also had a decent performance scoring 28 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists.
As once again, I have guessed wrong. Wednesday nights game had no return of Heats star Tyler Herro. According to ESPN, Tyler is not cleared yet to return because of broken hand. Coach Erik Spoelstra said "We're taking it one day at a time. … He has not been cleared yet, so that’s where we are, but we’re encouraged by the work that he’s been doing.” Heat fans are hoping and awaiting his return for game 4 back at home.
Game Four returns to Miami tonight at 8:30pm mountain time.
