Part of what makes the Denver Nuggets so dangerous is that they can beat opponents in a variety of ways. In Game 3 on Wednesday, they subdued the Miami Heat with The Nikola Jokic & Jamal Murray Show. In Friday's Game 4, it was the supporting cast taking the starring roles as Denver once again posted a double-digit win, 108-95, in Miami.
Friday night was Aaron Gordon's turn to be the top star as he scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Jamal Murray didn't shoot well but he had another 12 assists, making him the league's only player to have four double-digit assists outings in his first four NBA Finals games. Oh, and he tied Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson by racking up those 12 assists without turning the ball over.
The Heat now find themselves down 3-1 and heading to Denver for a potential closeout game Monday night. Win that and Miami would host Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to even the Finals before a potential Game 7 showdown Father's Day. Technically possible, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Teams down 3-1 in the NBA Finals have gone on the lose the series 35 of 36 times. (And the 2016 version of LeBron James ain't walking through that door.)
Below is all the info for the 2023 NBA Finals. All games will be broadcast on ABC and will be streaming on fubo (try for free).
2023 NBA Finals schedule
- Game 1: Nuggets 104, Heat 98 (recap)
- Game 2: Heat 111, Nuggets 108 (recap)
- Game 3: Nuggets 109, Heat 94 (recap)
- Game 4: Nuggets 108, Heat 95 (recap)
- Game 5: Heat at Nuggets - Monday, June 12 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Game 6: Nuggets at Heat - Thursday, June 15 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)*
- Game 7: Heat at Nuggets - Sunday, June 18 (8 p.m. ET, ABC)*
(* - if necessary)
And here's a look at recent NBA Finals history, with the last 10 winners and last 10 MVPs.
NBA Finals history
- 2022: Warriors over Celtics in six games | MVP: Stephen Curry
- 2021: Bucks over Suns in six games | MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- 2020: Lakers over Heat in six games | MVP: LeBron James
- 2019: Raptors over Warriors in six games | MVP: Kawhi Leonard
- 2018: Warriors over Cavaliers in four games | MVP: Kevin Durant
- 2017: Warriors over Cavaliers in five games | MVP: Kevin Durrant
- 2016: Cavaliers over Warriors in seven games | MVP: LeBron James
- 2015: Warriors over Cavaliers in six games | MVP: Andre Iguodala
- 2014: Spurs over Heat in five games | MVP: Kawhi Leonard
- 2013: Heat over Spurs in seven games | MVP: LeBron James
More NBA Finals coverage
- See our CBS Sports staff predictions.
- Bill Reiter on the depth of the Nuggets.
- Colin Ward-Henninger on how Jamal Murray is now linked to Magic Johnson.
- Brad Botkin on how Aaron Gordon stepping back has helped Denver step up.
- Sam Quinn on how Bruce Brown has played his way into a really nice contract.
- Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and Jamal record an NBA-first.
- Bill Reiter on how The Jokic & Murray Show dominated Game 3.
- Colin Ward-Henninger explains why Heat need Tyler Herro back as soon as possible.
- Bill Reiter writes the Heat have been a resilient team all playoffs long.
- Brad Botkin explains how the Heat picked their Nikola Jokic poison in Game 2.
- Here are the latest 2023 NBA Finals MVP odds.
