The Nuggets’ Legendary Night

06/08/2023

By: Jeff Yoder

Nuggets Notch Game 3 Win Over Heat (109-94) Behind Historic 30-Point Triple-Doubles From Jokic & Murray | DEN Leads Finals (2-1)

Denver has restored order in the NBA Finals. Wednesday night’s Game 3 in Miami was a tight one until midway through the third when the Nuggets exploded and went up by 20 points in the fourth. By the game’s end, the historians and statisticians were salivating. Nikola Jokic (32-21-10) and Jamal Murray (34-10-10) both tallied 30-point triple-doubles, effectively shattering all sorts of NBA Finals history in the process. Denver didn’t shoot it well from deep (just 5-for-18 from 3-pt), but the Heat defense had no answer for Jokic and Murray. Here are a few “nuggets” of history from Game 3.

Jokic & The 30-20-10 Club: Jokic’s 32-21-10 triple-double is the first in NBA Finals history. It’s the third 30-20-10 playoff game of his career. Only two other players have ever done it in the postseason — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain (one each).

Jokic-Murray Teammate History: Want more ridiculous facts? Jokic and Murray are the first pair of teammates in NBA history with 30-point triple-doubles in the same game (playoffs or regular season). The last time two teammates each had 30 points and 10 assists was 1992 (Clyde Drexler & Terry Porter), let alone 10 rebounds, too.

Game 3 Top Performers

J. Murray (DEN): 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists

N. Jokic (DEN): 32 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists

J. Butler (MIA): 28 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists

B. Adebayo (MIA): 22 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists

Watch: Nuggets Take Game 3 Behind Jokic-Murray Triple-Doubles (109-94)

NBA Finals Schedule

Gm 4: Nuggets at Heat (Fri. 8:30 pm ET) | DEN Leads (2-1)

SI: Nikola Jokic Alone in NBA History With Unprecedented Finals Performance

Photo: Aaron Ontiveroz / Getty Images