Nuggets move to brink of team’s first NBA title after Game 4 win over Heat

Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and the Denver Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the title series.

Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who took both games in Miami to grab complete command. They’ll have three chances to win one game for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them in what’s sure to be a raucous atmosphere for Game 5 on Monday night.

Jamal Murray had 15 points and 12 assists – his fourth consecutive double-digit assist game – for Denver.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Miami, who have now fallen into 3-1 holes in each of their last three finals appearances – this one joining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, while Kyle Lowry had 13 points.

Schedule

Best-of-seven series. All times EDT. 

Thu 1 Jun Game 1: Nuggets 104, Heat 93 

Sun 4 Jun Game 2: Heat 111, Nuggets 108

Wed 7 Jun Game 3: Nuggets 109, Heat 94

Fri 9 Jun Game 4: Nuggets 108, Heat 95

Mon 12 Jun Game 5: Heat at Nuggets, 8.30pm (ABC)  

Thu 15 Jun Game 6: Nuggets at Heat, 8.30pm (ABC) * 

Sun 18 Jun Game 7: Heat at Nuggets, 8pm (ABC) * 

* if necessary

The Heat walked off the floor in silence, fully aware of how much trouble they’re in now.

The Nuggets were overwhelming favorites to start the series, for obvious reasons. Denver were the Western Conference’s No 1 seed; Miami were the Eastern Conference’s No 8 seed. The Nuggets had won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, and their run of success over the Heat has continued through four games of the finals.

Denver led by 13 going into the fourth, and Miami came out for the final quarter with