Nikola Jokic, 12 points. Jamal Murray, 14 points. The two stars of Nuggets were far from their best level in Florida, for the match in Miami. As the Heat did not have a great night either, the level of the meeting was not extraordinary.
The Denver duo only scored 26 points, and yet the defending champions did not tremble. For what ? Because the supporting players did the job: Aaron Gordon scored 16 points, Michael Porter Jr. 25. For the seventh time this season, the MVP of the 2023 Finals remained below the 15-point mark. Denver's record? Seven victories.
” It is important. We have to win when Jokic doesn’t score 40 points”, ensures Christian Braun. “It doesn't happen often but, in these matches, we have players who can raise their level. »
The substitute was also decisive in the last quarter. He and Reggie Jackson compiled 14 points at 6/7 shooting. They made the baskets against an overwhelmed Miami defense.
Mike Malone: “The greatest gift I can give my players is confidence”
“The defenders were not on me, but focused on the best player in the world, Jokic,” explains the former Pistons who scored his three baskets in the last act after screens from the Serbian. “Everyone knows that Reggie had a tough time getting shots in, but he always made the effort. He is constantly in the room,” continues Michael Malone.
This 10th victory in eleven matches is therefore very good news for the Nuggets. Not only to regain first place in the Western Conference, but also to not always rely on local stars.
“Jamal only played 31 minutes, which is very good. Kentavious-Caldwell-Pope only 24, that’s great too”notes the Nuggets coach. “One way or another, I'm going to have to reduce Jokic's minutes but that probably won't happen before the end of the season. »
For Mike Malone, empowering his entire workforce is the most important part of his job.
“My father told me a long time ago, and it's one of the most important lessons he shared, is that the greatest gift I can give to my players is trust. If they're at 0/3, they look at me, and I say to them: 'Come on, take a shot', that's not going to help them. But if I continue to encourage them, trust them, and they know it's real, then they can play to the fullest of their abilities. Yes, I have 18 sons and two daughters” he concluded, smiling.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Nikola Jokic | 63 | 34.3 | 58.2 | 34.9 | 82.8 | 2.9 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 9.2 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 26.2 |
| Jamal Murray | 49 | 31.9 | 48.3 | 42.0 | 83.7 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 6.6 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 21.2 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 64 | 31.7 | 48.4 | 39.6 | 81.3 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| Aaron Gordon | 59 | 31.4 | 55.8 | 29.1 | 65.2 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 6.4 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 13.9 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-pope | 59 | 31.8 | 44.7 | 39.6 | 92.1 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 10.1 |
| Reggie Jackson | 65 | 22.2 | 44.2 | 35.0 | 77.6 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.1 |
| Peyton Watson | 63 | 18.3 | 47.2 | 32.1 | 67.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 6.9 |
| Christian Braun | 65 | 19.1 | 44.7 | 35.8 | 70.6 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 6.9 |
| Julian Strawther | 40 | 12.4 | 37.5 | 30.4 | 72.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 5.2 |
| Deandre Jordan | 29 | 11.3 | 63.2 | 0.0 | 44.9 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 4.1 |
| Justin Holiday | 41 | 14.5 | 46.8 | 40.9 | 75.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 3.8 |
| Colin Gillespie | 19 | 8.5 | 51.1 | 45.8 | 62.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 50 | 9.8 | 43.2 | 23.8 | 71.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 3.2 |
| Jalen Pickett | 21 | 5.2 | 40.0 | 31.8 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| James Huff | 13 | 2.7 | 58.3 | 37.5 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Braxton Key | 17 | 3.2 | 37.5 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Hunter Tyson | 11 | 2.9 | 27.3 | 22.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
