Their excellence almost seems symbolic, considering their humble NBA beginnings. They are fully grown and mature by NBA standards, and close to the pinnacle of the profession. Jokić and Murray, in their respective primes, have already taken their lumps as youngsters. And that’s why the Nuggets duo took over the game in the third quarter.Ī partnership that’s been years in the making is at full tilt at this point. The Nuggets took that 2-1 series lead because their two proved to be much better than Miami’s two. Game 3 was symbolic in that way, a two-on-two showdown of sorts representing the game within the game. In Game 3, they pick-and-rolled Miami into submission, and did it going against Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami’s two best players. They have always thought they were one of the very best duos in the league. They’ve dealt with playoff disappointments.īut they have always had confidence in each other. Jokić having a tough Western Conference finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and dealing with the scrutiny that was this season’s MVP race. Murray missing two postseasons because of a torn ACL. They went through difficult points together in their careers. The Jokić and Murray partnership, one that’s now two wins from an NBA title, it means something to both men. His energy is amazing and we are just following.” Jamal is playing phenomenal, I think, the whole playoff. When Murray is along for the ride, the Nuggets are difficult to deal with. He’s reached a level, a zone, that only the great ones get to. Nobody is going to stop or even contain Jokić at this point. When he’s this aggressive and this good, the Nuggets usually emerge with a victory. The significance of Murray’s game has been clear for this playoff. That’s saying something because he’s had a whale of a postseason. After a game where teammates had to assure him the loss wasn’t on him, Murray played as good a game as he has this postseason. He’s often self-critical, which is part of what makes him so good. Murray wasn’t good enough in Denver’s Game 2 loss and he knew it. He got to the basket and made shots at the rim. He got into the teeth of the defense and made shots from midrange. He made shots from beyond the 3-point line. His scoring output came from three levels. He played Wednesday night’s game at a perfect pace, which allowed Denver to take control at the end of the first half and dominate the third quarter.Īs good as Jokić was, Murray’s game may have been as important. He grabbed nearly every available rebound in his area, allowing the Nuggets to dominate Miami on the interior. If he saw a teammate cutting - on this night it was mostly rookie Christian Braun - he found that teammate with a perfect pass and that pass usually ended up in a layup or a dunk. If he made his mind up to score, he got into the lane off the dribble, turned and scored, usually on a feathery soft floater that nestled softly at the bottom of the net. Jokić became the first player in NBA Finals history to record a 30-point triple-double that featured 20 rebounds. They wrecked Miami’s defense in an efficient manner that hasn’t been done to them in this postseason.īut for everything Jokić and Murray accomplished as a duo in Game 3, they each stood out for their brilliance. Together, they made 24 of their 43 attempts from the field. And yet, Murray and Jokić combined for 66 points. The Nuggets used fewer than 100 possessions in Game 3. The significance of what Jokić and Murray did to the Heat on Wednesday night was historically monstrous. I think the consistency, it doesn’t get talked about enough.” He makes tough shots look easy and he’s been doing it for a very long time. I know when he’s taking a second to get into the game. I know when he’s being the best player on the floor. If he throws it to me, he knows and expects what to see from me and he knows the mood I’m in. It’s just reading the game and trusting that the other is going to make the right play. “It’s not really X’s and O’s at this point,” Murray said. They took turns dominating the Heat in a road game they had to have, Murray negotiating traffic off the dribble, making shots, making plays in the paint, and Jokić being the best player in the series by such a large gap that Miami may not be able to shrink that gap enough to win this series, no matter what it does. They became the first duo in NBA history to put up 30-point triple-doubles in a game. Murray and Jokić? They made history together, a crescendo of a night after making years of hoops music together. The Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 109-94 on Wednesday night, taking Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and taking control of a series that had suddenly gone up for grabs when the Heat stole Game 2 at Ball Arena.
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