Nikola Jokic smashes records as Denver Nuggets take NBA Finals lead

Nikola Jokic smashes records as Denver Nuggets take NBA Finals lead

The Denver Nuggets have taken a 2-1 lead within the NBA Finals due to a historic efficiency by massive man Nikola Jokic.

The Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 109-94 in Miami to regain the Finals lead after shedding Game 2 at house in Denver.

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It was all tied up at 24-24 after the primary quarter, however Jokic and the Nuggets exploded within the second and third quarters to edge forward.

Jokic completed with 34 factors, 21 rebounds and 10 assists — a monster stat line that broke all types of data.

The two-time MVP had the primary ‘30-20-10’ in NBA playoff historical past. He now has three 30-20-10 playoff video games, probably the most by any participant ever.

Two of these stat-stuffing video games have come on this season’s playoffs.

Jokic, 28, has additionally develop into the primary participant in NBA historical past to report a minimum of 10 triple doubles in a single playoff run.

Asked in regards to the historic feat, a bemused Jokic mentioned: “I mean to be honest, not much … I’m just glad we won the game. It was a big one for us because they won in our arena.”

His recordbreaking efficiency overshadowed that of his teammate Jamal Murray, who starred in a two-man present for the Nuggets.

Point guard Murray completed with 34 factors, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — a triple double of his personal.

Jokic and Murray grew to become the primary pair of teammates in NBA historical past to every report 30-plus factors and 10-plus assists in a Finals recreation.

They’re additionally the primary teammates to have a triple-double in the identical recreation in NBA Finals historical past.

Aaron Gordon had 10 factors and 10 rebounds, whereas rookie Christian Braun flourished with 15 factors as Denver coach Michael Malone gave Braun extra courtroom time over Michael Porter Jr.

Malone described Jokic and Murray’s output as “by far their greatest performance as a duo in their 7 years together”.

Denver wanted monster video games from Jokic and Murray, given Miami’s stars Jimmy Butler (28 factors) and Bam Adebayo (22 factors, 17 rebounds) had stable video games of their very own.

The Heat stored the sport aggressive within the fourth quarter however couldn’t repeat their late surges from the opening two video games.

The NBA Finals continues with Game 4 in Miami on Sunday at 10.30am AEST.

Source: www.news.com.au