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Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone has nothing but praise for his superstar duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. The Nuggets duo made history in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, as both players bagged triple-doubles in their 109-94 win over the Miami Heat.
In the postgame news conference, Malone saidt that it was the duo's greatest performance. Jokic had 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists, while Murray put up 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
"I've been with Nikola for eight (years) and Jamal for seven years now, and we've had some pretty good moments," Malone said. "But not in the NBA Finals and for those guys to make history the way (they) did tonight, no one ever's done that. That's what really neat about it. We got the win."
He added:
"I thought our defense was fantastic tonight. You hold that team to 94 points, 37% from the field, only 11 threes, that really helped out us tonight. The defending and rebounding at a high level. By far their greatest performance as a duo in their seven years together."
It was a pretty close game in the first half, with the Denver Nuggets having a five-point lead at the end of two quarters. However, the Nuggets pulled away in the third to take control of the game.
Apart from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Denver also got a great performance from Christian Braun. Michael Malone trusted his rookie, who finished with 15 points and four rebounds on 7-for-8 shooting off the bench.
Michael Malone's call-out after Game 2 worked for Denver
Michael Malone was not happy with his team following their 111-108 loss in Game 2 at home. Malone was fuming and disappointed with the Denver Nuggets' lack of effort despite being in the NBA Finals in front of their home fans.
"Let's talk about effort," Malone. "This is the NBA Finals. We are talking about effort. That's a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn't play well. We didn't play well."
He added:
"Tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami. Start of the third quarter, they scored 11 points in. ... This is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That, to me, is really, really perplexing, disappointing."
Malone's call-out worked, as the Nuggets got the win in Game 3 to regain homecourt advantage. They now have a chance to go up 3-1 in Game 4 before heading back to Denver in Game 5.
Guess the Lakers players!
