The NBA Finals are underway between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets were the best team in the Western Conference all season and so they were expected by many to be here. But the Miami Heat had to go through the play-in and then win three straight playoff series without homecourt advantage. The Heat are the underdogs to be sure but they have some similarities to the Nuggets. In any case, the Nuggets have arguably the best player in the series in Nikola Jokic. Jokic has been spectacular throughout the playoffs and his dominance was on full display in the first half. Jokic matched an NBA Finals record set by LeBron James by halftime as per ESPN's Stats&Info Twitter page.
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
By halftime, Nikola Jokic had ten points and ten assists joining LeBron James as the only players in the last 25 years to reach those numbers in a single NBA Finals half. The difference was it took James 42 tries, Game 2 of the 2017 Finals against the Golden State Warriors, to record those stats. Jokic put up those numbers in his very first Finals game.
Throughout the playoffs, Jokic has been averaging 29.9 points per game, 13.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 53.8 percent shooting from the field, 47.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His field goal percentage and three-point percentage are both playoff career-highs.
Jokic had a strong case for the league's MVP Award but finished second behind Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid. It's probably safe to say though that it won't really matter to Jokic if he brings home a championship.
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