As the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 109-94 to move ahead 2-1 in the NBA Finals, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray shone.
Jokic finished with 32 points, becoming the first player in the Finals to finish with 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists.
In the waning seconds, Murray ended with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to accomplish his own triple-double.
On Friday at 01:30 BST on Saturday, the best-of-seven series will resume at the same location, the Kaseya Center in Miami.
The first teammates to record triple-doubles in the same Finals game and the first to record triple-doubles of 30 points in the same game at any time during the season are Jokic and Murray.
It was “by far their greatest performance as a duo in their seven years together,” according to Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
Nothing Jokic does ever surprises Malone, who admitted as much. “The individual has repeatedly demonstrated that he is constructed for these circumstances.
Jamal is a person who excels, lives, and thrives in the present and is never afraid of it. And for many athletes, you can’t say that.
For the Heat, who at one point trailed by 21 points in front of a crowd that included five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson, footballers Neymar and Paul Pogba, and singer Shakira, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 17 rebounds.
The Heat are attempting to become the first eighth seeds to win the NBA Championship, while the Nuggets were defeated 111-108 in Denver on Sunday.
