2023-06-02 02:10:00
ESPN.comReading: 3 min.
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic joined LeBron James as the only players in the past 25 years to score 10 points and 10 assists in an NBA Finals half and Jason Kidd as the only players with a triple double in its premiere in this instance.
The Colorado franchise, for the first time in this instance of the league, closed the initial 24 minutes of Game 1 of the Finals with a comfortable advantage against Miami Heat (69-42). In that period, the Serbian center became one of the figures of Michael Malone’s team with 10 points and 10 assists in 19 minutes and 18 seconds.
Jokic, who in the first half only shot three times to the basket (he scored his three attempts, all doubles, in addition to his four free throws), finished as the top assister, with the addition that he did not commit any losses, and joined James, a four-time NBA champion, as the only players with double figures in points and assists in the last quarter century, as reported by ESPN’s Statistics and Data Department.
The current star of the Los Angeles Lakers got this mark in his forty-second Finals game: After contesting the definitions of 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, LeBron scored 18 points and delivered 10 services in the first half of Game 2 of the 2017 Finals, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers lost by 113 -132 against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California.
In total, James played 55 Finals games, including those in 2018 and 2020, with three different teams and with a balance of four wins (2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020) and six losses (2007, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018).
The 28-year-old Serbian, for his part, obtained this record in his first match corresponding to the NBA Finals, which coincides with the first trip to this phase of the Denver Nuggets in the NBA era.
Likewise, in the initial section of the game that was played at the Ball Arena in Denver, the two-time MVP of the regular season became the third player in NBA history to reach 450 points, 200 rebounds and 150 assists in a playoffsafter Larry Bird and LeBron James himself.
During the aforementioned first half, four Nuggets players finished in double figures, namely: Jamal Murray (18), Aaron Gordon (14), Michael Porter Jr. (10) and the aforementioned Jokic (10).
Finally, the native of Sombor closed the win 104-93 with a spreadsheet 27 points (8/12TC), 10 rebounds and 14 assiststhrough which he became the second player in history to record a triple double in his Finals debut, after Jason Kidd in 2002 with the New Jersey Nets against the Los Angeles Lakers. Likewise, he joined LeBron as the only basketball players with those numbers in a game of these characteristics.
To complete a historic performance, the 41st pick of the 2014 Draft became, along with Jamal Murray, the second duo to each score 25 points and distribute 10 assists in a Finals game since the NBA, joining the legendary purple and Magic Johnson and James Worthy gold in 1987.
The NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets, who left the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers on the road, and the Miami Heat, who did the same with the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, have Star+ transmission.
Nikola Jokic joins LeBron James as the only players in the last 25 years with 10 points & 10 assists in any half of an NBA Finals game.
James did it in his 42nd Finals game.
Jokic did it in his 1st. pic.twitter.com/VZKy7uFQps
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 2, 2023
Nikola Jokic is the 2nd player with a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, joining Jason Kidd in 2002 vs the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/G2b93UEPtT
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 2, 2023
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are the 2nd pair of teammates to each have 25 points and 10 assists in an NBA Finals game, joining Magic Johnson and James Worthy in 1987. pic.twitter.com/v6Y7mqRbzL
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 2, 2023
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