![]() Our offense may not be as beautiful as it is with Nikola, but the five guys that are out there are defending, and that's the key to that group playing well." but the guys that are out there, they're competing and defending. "All season long, it was like, 'Oh, the non-Nikola minutes, kind of a crapshoot.' You're watching the game like this sometimes," Malone said, shielding his eyes. With that, Jokić reentered with 4:09 remaining and his team still leading by nine. On three of them, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope consecutively stripped Butler, stood up Adebayo on the block and helped onto Robinson, forcing a travel. Underrated were the three field goals Denver limited the Heat to in their 10 possessions with Jokić on the bench. Jokić left the floor with a 10-point advantage and 9:24 standing between the two-time MVP and either a tied Finals or a commanding lead in the series, and his teammates held the fort. He has gone small with Caleb Martin and big with Kevin Love, and his stash of dissolvents is running dry.Īs Gordon said, "I think we have a counter to pretty much everything." Nor can Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra figure out how to get Denver unglued. The Nuggets have grown so comfortable they are single-covering both stars. The hard-nosed Heat and their band of undrafted craftsmen have met their match in a team so cohesive not even Butler and Adebayo can break them. I know when my teammates need me, I'm just doing it for my brothers." When it comes down to it, it's just wanting to be great for my teammates. This team does a good job finding the people that are in rhythm and kind of going. Sometimes it's not going to be your night, and sometimes it's going to be your night. "We have guys that can step up night in and night out. "That's just how this team is built," Gordon said. ![]() They found each other, and this time they met on the brink of a title. Unlike the Boston Celtics, who floundered against Miami when their stars absconded, Denver's role players did what they are accustomed to. And it carried the day even when he was off the court. The culture Jokić set has created this environment, where everyone is involved, everyone is constantly moving, expected to attack, expecting to be found. Gordon did the same in the second quarter, when he scored 15 of his 27 points, repeatedly punishing the Heat for leaving him open on the perimeter and for entrusting smaller defenders against him in the paint. When the clock hit zeroes, Brown had scored 11 of his 21 points in the final five minutes of the fourth, each of them nudging the Heat closer and closer to summer vacation. He banked home an up-and-under layup with stud Miami center Bam Adebayo on his back. The well-traveled second-round pick pulled up in traffic and finished through contract from mid-range for an and-1. He beat Robinson off the dribble to draw a foul from Heat star Jimmy Butler at the rim. He finished a 3-on-1 fast break for a layup. This time, one of them was not Jokić, so Brown took center stage instead.īruce Brown (11), Jamal Murray (27), Nikola Jokić (15), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) and Aaron Gordon (50) of the Denver Nuggets work together to dissect the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 108-95 win during Game 4 of the NBA Finals at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Friday. Make an easy pass, and that's why I've got four other guys out there." We've got a lot of guys that can come and impact the game, a lot of guys playing with confidence, so I'm not going to fight it. "They were blitzing every pick-and-roll, just basically trying to limit my shot attempts, and I wasn't fighting it," said Murray, the first player ever to log 10 assists in each of the first four games of a Finals. Jeff Green, the Nuggets' 36-year-old veteran, made his only attempt of the night - a corner 3-pointer for the 11th of Murray's 12 assists - that made it a three-possession game midway through the fourth quarter. Neither Murray nor Jokić scored over the game's final 8:25, and yet the Heat would climb no closer than six points again. Malone called for his bread and butter, only this time with Gordon serving as a small-ball screener in Jokić's role, handing off to a curling Murray for a 26-footer that pushed Denver's lead back to eight. The Heat had already shaved three points off of Denver's 13-point lead at the start of the frame, and they added five more to close within 86-81 with 8:42 still to play, forcing a timeout from Nuggets head coach Michael Malone. Jokić picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in a 17-second span early in the fourth quarter.
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