Gabe Vincent scored 23 points to help the visiting Miami Heat record a 111-108 victory over Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, levelling the NBA Finals at one win apiece.
Vincent made eight of 12 shot attempts from the floor – including 4 of 6 from three-point range — as the Heat outscored the Nuggets by a 36-25 margin in the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo collected 21 points and nine rebounds and Jimmy Butler added 21 points and nine assists for Miami, which hosts Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Wednesday.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic recorded 41 points and 11 rebounds and Jamal Murray added 18 points and 10 assists. Murray, however, saw his three-point attempt with 1.9 seconds remaining hit the iron.
Aaron Gordon scored 12 points and Bruce Brown added 11 off the bench for the Nuggets, who fell to 9-1 at home in the playoffs.
Denver held an 83-75 lead through three quarters before Miami erupted for a 32-12 run over the first eight-plus minutes of the fourth. Duncan Robinson made a pair of treys and two layups and Butler converted a three-point play and 3-pointer to highlight the surge.
Murray drained two three-pointers and Gordon also connected from beyond the arc to cut the Heat’s lead to 109-106 with 1:09 to play. Adebayo answered by making a pair of free throws and Jokic responded with a short jumper before Murray misfired on his game-tying attempt.
Kyle Lowry’s 3-pointer trimmed the Nuggets’ lead to 77-75 with 2:08 left in the third quarter before Jokic scored the final six points of the period.
Butler drained a floating jumper to stake Miami to a 21-10 lead and Max Strus answered a modest Denver run with his fourth 3-pointer to push his team’s advantage to 24-15 late in the first quarter. The Nuggets responded by scoring 35 of the game’s next 46 points, capped by Brown’s short jumper with 5:02 remaining in the first half.
Denver led 57-51 at the break.
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