By Mike Bennett
No player had ever recorded 30 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in an NBA Finals game before Nikola Jokić did it last night.
Never before had two teammates registered 30-point triple-doubles in any NBA game either, before Jokić and Jamal Murray did it in Denver’s 109-94 win.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each score 30+ PTS in Game 3, becoming the 8th duo with 3 or more such games in a single Playoffs, joining:
Baylor/West (5x)
Durant/Westbrook (3x)
James/Irving (2x)
Kobe/Shaq (2002)
Durant/Curry (2017)
Giannis/Middleton (2021)
Durant/Booker (2023) pic.twitter.com/QupCBKtTsl— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 8, 2023
It was a masterful night for the Nuggets, who are two wins away from a title. This series might not have the superstar power of LeBron James or Kevin Durant, but man, it’s just really, really good basketball.
Both teams make few mistakes. The Heat are Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and a crew of G League guys the franchise developed into star role players. The Nuggets are directed by Jokić, who looks like the best player in the world right now. His passes are surprising and almost always perfect. His two-man game with Murray can feel unstoppable when the latter gets hot. Jokić is the first player to post 10 triple-doubles in a postseason.
These teams are awesome, but Denver’s ceiling still feels so much higher. The Nuggets shot 51 percent from the field. It’s hard to beat any team producing that.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are the first pair of teammates with triple-doubles in Finals history!
Jokic: 32 PTS, 21 REB, 10 AST
Murray: 34 PTS, 10 REB, 10 ASTDEN/MIA Game 4: Friday, 8:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/0hLcPvv0zN
— NBA (@NBA) June 8, 2023
