Somebody was getting hit when Bruce Brown pulled up for 3 in the final minutes of Game 4.

“When he did a step-back 3 … I wanted to punch him,” Nikola Jokic said. “But when he made it, I was so happy.”

The shot turned out to be a devastating blow to Miami’s title hopes, as Brown’s fourth made shot of the fourth quarter carried the Nuggets to a 108-95 win Friday in Miami and brought Denver one victory away from a championship celebration. The Nuggets sixth man – or sixth starter, as coach Michael Malone has put it over the course of Brown’s first year with the Nuggets – scored 11 of his 21 points in the final quarter.

“Bruce Brown in the fourth quarter was amazing,” Malone said. “They were giving Jamal so much attention that (I thought) let’s get Jamal (Murray) off the ball, let Bruce make some plays. He was aggressive, got to the basket, made shots, and tonight was an impressive performance.”

Brown’s only miss of the fourth quarter came on his first attempt of the final period. Jokic attracted a double team in the paint and kicked the ball out to the corner where Brown had ample time to get set and shoot from the left corner. The shot was a touch long, but he was on target the rest of the way.

His 4-for-4 finish started during the most crucial stretch of Denver’s postseason run. Jokic picked up his fourth and fifth fouls 17 seconds apart with more than nine minutes remaining and the Nuggets leading by 10 points. The Heat closed within five before Brown got aggressive.

“We knew they were going to trap Jamal and try to get the ball out of his hands. So the other four players were going to have to make plays,” Brown said. “Then, luckily, it was just my time in the fourth quarter.”

In a seven-point game with just over five minutes left, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stripped Jimmy Butler in the lane. A textbook three-on-one fast break followed with Aaron Gordon bringing the ball up the court, passing to Murray on the left side. Murray threw it back to Brown, who ran down the right flank for an uncontested layup. Brown landed a couple of body shots in the form of a three-point play and a driving reverse layup that put Denver up 11 with just over two minutes left.

“Every time we felt like we got it to six or eight, they were able to push it to 12. That was certainly a frustrating part of the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Brown was a big part of (that), some of his random drives and plays in the middle of the paint when you’re expecting it to be Murray or somebody else.”

The knockout punch came in an isolation 3-pointer over Duncan Robinson that put the Nuggets up 17 with 1:20 left. Brown saw Jimmy Butler in a position to offer help and decided to pull up for a shot he’s worked on for a while. After dribbling between his legs three times as he walked Robinson inside the arc, Brown used a right-to-left crossover to create additional separation. Robinson recovered and was able to contest the shot, but it wasn’t enough to disrupt Brown’s rhythm.

“If I drove, it was going to be a tough shot. The shot clock was already low,” Brown said. “But yeah, that’s been my go-to move, if I want a shot off the dribble, my whole life. Once I seen him back up a little bit, I went for it.”

When it was over, Brown was responsible for half of Denver’s 22 points in the fourth quarter. He played all 12 minutes of the final frame and helped the Nuggets play the Heat, even despite not having Jokic for more than five minutes due to foul trouble. He made 8 of 11 shots, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range and grabbed four rebounds, the last of which came on a Bam Adebayo floater that would have made it a four-point game with more than seven minutes remaining.

“He’s not afraid,” Malone said. “We got a lot of guys that have a quiet toughness about them, and Bruce Brown is definitely one that embodies that Boston toughness that he brings to the table every night.”

Ticket prices jump overnight

The chance to see the Denver Nuggets win their first championship is likely going to come with a comma.

Tickets for Monday’s Game 5 at Ball Arena were under $900 on a few of the most popular secondary-market sites prior to Friday’s game. After Denver took a 3-1 lead, the cheapest tickets appear to be just over $1,000 at checkout.

Saturday evening, the Nuggets were listed as nine-point favorites to finish the series in five games.