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Key events
Final thoughts
Well, the NBA finals are officially on life support, with this seemingly unstoppable Nuggets team needing just one more victory in the next three games to close out the Heat. They will get their first shot at home on Monday, history suggests that it may be all they need.
Here at the Guardian, we will continue to cover our coverage of the 2023 NBA finals until its bitter end (well, bitter for at least one of these two teams). This, however, marks the end of today’s live blog. Thank you to everybody who followed along with all of the basketball action with me throughout these last few hours. Ciao!
Aaron Gordon
I keep saying that the key for Denver is for Jokić to have a good game but not necessarily be the team’s leading scorer. This time around it was Aaron Gordon who had a game-high 27 points.
Meanwhile, the Heat made a valiant effort to pull off one of their fourth-quarter comebacks but they have learned that it’s just difficult to do against this Nuggets team.
The Denver Nuggets take a 3-1 lead in the 2023 NBA finals
And that will do it, the Denver Nuggets are now a single win away from winning their first-ever championship! They can do it in Game 5 on their own court and the series heads back to Denver
Nuggets 108-95 Heat, FINAL
Caleb Martin makes a dunk,but the Heat have less than a minute to make up a 13-point deficit. That’s not happening.
In fact, the Nuggets just dribble it out as they win Game 5 of the NBA finals!
Nuggets 108-93 Heat, 47.2, 4th quarter
Adebayo hits two free throws, which will only affect the final score.
Nuggets 108-91 Heat, 1:11, 4th quarter
The rim is an ocean-wide for Brown, who looks down another three-pointer. That’s 11 fourth-quarter points from Brown.
Nuggets 105-91 Heat, 1:49, 4th quarter
Adebayo with a layup. Brown drives to the basket and every single time the ball leaves his hands it gets in the basket. Miami turns the ball over and Caldwell-Pope hits a three pointer! The DAGGER!
Miami calls a timeout, but we’re done here. It’s just about the final margin.
Nuggets 100-89 Heat, 2:36, 4th quarter
Robinson with a floater that rolls its way down the rim but Miami can’t buy a stop. Bruce Brown’s outstanding fourth quarter continues as he scores and gets fouled on the play.
He drains the free throw. We’re getting close to stadium-clearing time here in Miami.
Nuggets 97-87 Heat, 3:32, 4th quarter
Robinson picks up a foul as we hit a timeout. The Nuggets did what nobody in the Eastern Conference could manage: take control of the fourth quarter right when it looked like everything was going Miami’s favor.
Nuggets 97-87 Heat, 4:04, 4th quarter
Brown gets to the line and makes one of his two free throws, it’s back to a 10-point Nuggets lead.
Nuggets 96-87 Heat, 4:04, 4th quarter
Jokić at the scoring table, ready to come back in. It feels like Miami’s opportunity to pull off the comeback has nearly slipped away. This stretch was their golden opportunity.
Nuggets 96-87 Heat, 4:45, 4th quarter
Heat have a chance to cut it down but Caldwell-Pope knocks the ball loose from Butler and Bruce Brown scores on the other end and I won’t lie, that feels like a key play in this quarter.
Nuggets 94-87 Heat, 6:05, 4th quarter
Gordon fouls Butler, who makes both free throws.
Nuggets 94-85 Heat, 6:21, 4th quarter
Robinson with a smooth floater, have to think he’s starting Game 5 no matter what.
On Denver’s end, Green hits a long three.
Nuggets 91-83 Heat, 6:55, 4th quarter
I commend thee, Sir @HunterFelt, for thy noble self-deprecating confession. 🐺
:I shall tell my inner she-Wolf to stop snarling as it might be interpreted as a form of gloating which doesn’t become a Princess, does it?:
Blimey, but The Joker is out at the worst possible time!!!😱 pic.twitter.com/dAiYWlxjoI— WolfPrincess (@MontLupus) June 10, 2023
I imagine he’s coming back in to finish the game shortly, he’s going to have to do something very obvious in order to foul out of a finals game.
Nuggets 91-83 Heat, 6:55, 4th quarter
Butler scores. Gordon with a layup. After that Nuggets counterpunch, Spoelstra calls a Heat timeout.
Nuggets 89-81 Heat, 8:11, 4th quarter
Earned or not, Butler makes the free throw and the Nuggets will just have to respond.
They do, Murray hits a three-pointer, their first points of the quarter.
The same thing that wasn’t a foul on Love in the first half on a MPJ drive now is a foul on Murray on that Butler drive. Momentum officiating strikes again.
— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) June 10, 2023
Shockingly, there is some rightful questioning about officiating in a Scott Foster game.
This is just the most dangerous fourth quarter team I’ve seen in all my time covering the NBA postseason. It’s ridiculous how little the Heat care about the odds.
Nuggets 86-80 Heat, 8:42, 4th quarter
Gordon misses a three-pointer after a broken offensive possession. Adebayo with a rebound, Robinson finds Butler who drives to the basket. He scores and draws a foul!
An upset Malone calls a timeout, he’s seen what the fourth-quarter Heat has done to many a team before his.
Nuggets 86-78 Heat, 9:13, 4th quarter
Jokić gets called for a fifth foul! An iffy one on the offensive end! That’s very unexpected and Jokić has to sit.
And a shooting foul on Gordon! This is a rough, rough start for Denver who were in control of the game heading into this quarter.
Adebayo makes both free throws. It’s an eight-point game!
Nuggets 86-76 Heat, 9:25, 4th quarter
Miami put out two great defensive stances. Finally, they get Jokić to pick up his fourth foul, but it’s not a shooting foul. Robinson attempts a three and… no good.
Golden opportunities missed by the Heat.
Nuggets 86-76 Heat, 10:20, 4th quarter
After a few scoreless possessions, Robinson hits a huge three pointer. That finally brings the crowd into it.
Nuggets 86-73 Heat, 11:20, 4th quarter
As Spoelstra points out to start the final quarter, an eight-point deficit heading into the fourth is a lot different than a 13-point deficit. The crowd, for one, feels out of it.
I am not going to lie, my prediction is looking very iffy right now.
Nuggets 86-73 Heat, end of the 3rd quarter
Gordon with another alley-oop and another three-pointer. He’s definitely getting the game ball should the Nuggets hold on, which feels very likely now that they have a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Nuggets 81-73 Heat, 1:03, 3rd quarter
Gordon tips in a Braun miss for Denver. Martin hits a three-pointer for Miami.
Nuggets 79-70 Heat, 1:30, 3rd quarter
After all that, Brown hits a huge three-pointer to extend the Nuggets lead. Adebayo finds Butler for another alley-oop, so many of those this game!
Nuggets 76-68 Heat, 2:07, 3rd quarter
The ladders are being carried out. So we’re going to get started soon after a break that’s given extra rest to both sides, so we’ll see if that has any impact on the game.
Oh wait, nevermind, now there’s some sort of medical issue in the stands that delays the game even further. Let’s hope the fan is okay.
Nuggets 76-68 Heat, 2:07, 3rd quarter
That layup was actually goaltending on Adebayo, which I missed because I was too busy looking down at my keyboard. Liveblogging too is something of an athletic event.
They have brought out ladders on the court as they continue to examine the basket.
Nuggets 76-68 Heat, 2:07, 3rd quarter
Brown with a diving layup and now there’s a brief check to make sure the basket is level. The NBA finals: it’s nonstop drama!
Nuggets 74-68 Heat, 2:42, 3rd quarter
Nuggets don’t score out of the timeout. On the other end, Jokić picks up a third foul on Butler, who will go to the line.
I don’t know why I’m counting fouls on Jokić because there’s zero chance he will ever foul out of a playoff game from here on out, but worth noting!
Butler makes both free throws, guess the halftime practice helped.
Nuggets 74-66 Heat, 3:07, 3rd quarter
It’s a tricky decision: when Strus is on, he can light a fire under this team but when he’s not, he’s an empty box score. We might see a starting lineup change in Game 5 should Strus’s cold streak continue.
Nuggets 74-66 Heat, 3:07, 3rd quarter
Robinson with a steal and a score on the other end and that is going to rightfully get Michael Malone to call a Denver timeout. You don’t want to give extra possessions to the Heat team late, no matter what the lead.
Nuggets 74-64 Heat, 3:35, 3rd quarter
Lowry throws it away, but Butler manages to knock the ball out of bounds on the other end to give Miami the next possession.
But the Heat just can’t score. This is starting to look dicey.
Nuggets 74-64 Heat, 4:33, 3rd quarter
Kevin Love is hungry, he puts together an old-fashioned three-point play to keep the Heat in striking distance.
Nuggets 74-61 Heat, 5:08, 3rd quarter
Jokić gets an assist, helping with another Gordon alley-oop. Miami misses a few more threes and Murray scores, that feels like a deflating sequence for the Heat.
Nuggets 70-61 Heat, 6:29, 3rd quarter
Love banks one in, Jokić hits a three. This is not a winning formula, Miami.
Nuggets 67-61 Heat, 6:49, 3rd quarter
There’s a three-pointer! Can the Heat get a stop now?
No. Jokić hits a jumper.
The Heat know the third quarter has started right?
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) June 10, 2023
Again it’s early. But it’s later than the last time I said “it’s early” and time only moves forward.
Nuggets 65-55 Heat, 7:35, 3rd quarter
The Heat are going to need to start making some three-pointers here. Recent history suggests that if they don’t start making them around a 50% clip, they don’t win. Meanwhile, the Nuggets defense seems to be forcing them to play closer to the basket.
Jokić makes a layup. And then Murray does. The Heat have to call a timeout as this looks a lot like Game 3’s third quarter. It’s a ten-point Denver lead.
Nuggets 61-55 Heat, 9:16, 3rd quarter
Porter Jr with a slam. Vincent makes his first shot on the other end. Porter Jr with a layup on the other end and this is his best game in a long time.
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