And the heralded bench was outplayed by the Nuggets' reserves. The three combined for 16 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo combined for 50 points and 19 rebounds, but their three teammates in the starting lineup - Kevin Love, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus - were missing.
The Nuggets outrebounded the Heat by a truckload - 58-33 - and had 28 assists to 20. The Nuggets were miserable from the three-point distance again (5 of 18), but made up for it in paint play with 51.2% overall. They shot a measly 37% from the field (34 of 92) and fell from grace at the three-point arc after producing 48% in the previous game. The Heat were cold, unlike in the upset in Denver. Meanwhile, Jokic and Murray proved themselves once more as the best one-two punch in the NBA postseason with 64 points and 20 assists of the Nuggets' 109 points.Īaron Gordon resurfaced after a weak Game 2 by adding a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Braun grew up before the eyes of the national audience. again became The Invisible Man with only 2 points (1 of 7 from the field and 0-2 from the three-point area) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the starting "shooting guard," scored only 6 points, and Jeff Green and Bruce Brown finished with just 9 points off the bench, the Nuggets had to find someone to do something. Braun was a plus-8 in his critical stretch to dramatically help Jokic and Murray. Michael Malone trusted the young man, who was an afterthought for most of the season, in a critical span of the third quarter when the Nuggets denied the Heat from rallying. But Braun - pronounced "Brown" as the basketball world has just found out in the postseason - was a whirling dervish in the second half on both ends of the court with his defense, even on Jimmy Butler, and his diving and driving and passing and shooting and stealing. In his previous 15 playoff games, the high point total for the 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 guard was nine.
It is well to remember that Braun, the Nuggets' eighth man, did not play a moment in the final victory over the Lakers. Like Murray and Jokic, he is an original Nuggets' pick - 21st in the last draft. The rookie's stat line may have been a single double, but he gave the Nuggets 19 minutes of blood, sweat and fifth gears.īraun is the only player on the Nuggets roster trying to win his second successive championship after helping to lead Kansas to the NCAA title a season ago. And Christian Braun joined the pair in the triangle of success with his most proficient pro playoff performance - 15 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.
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