MIAMI — Home-court advantage is coming back to Denver with the Nuggets after their 109-94 win in Wednesday’s Game 3.

Here are three takeaways from Kaseya Center:

1. After that performance in Game 3, the Nuggets should get greedy and go for Game 4, too. Denver’s effort was much better, giving the Nuggets a pair of comfortable wins in both games that’s been the case against Miami. The notion of simply turning Nikola Jokic into a scorer was dispelled with he first 30-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist game in NBA Finals history. The two-man game between Jokic and Murray remained potent, and Denver’s defense forced Jimmy Butler to take 24 shots to score his team-high 28 points. If the Nuggets can keep Butler inefficient while getting typical production for their stars, they will have a good chance to win a championship in Game 5.

2. Jamal Murray picked perfect times to hit his three 3-pointers in the second quarter. The first one came after Caleb Martin scored eight straight points for the Heat, giving Miami a four-point lead and igniting the home crowd. Murray hit his second 3 less than two minutes later, forcing the Heat to take a timeout after Denver went up four. The final of his first half 3s came right after Bam Adebayo’s put-back dunk over Nikola Jokic. The crowd got into it once again only for Murray to answer with a shot that put the Nuggets up by one with three minutes left in the first half.

3. Christian Braun’s off-ball movement got him going and his defense got him a transition dunk late in the third quarter. Braun made his first four shots inside the restricted area before he picked off a Jimmy Butler pass and outran Duncan Robinson for a one-handed dunk on the break. Braun’s first miss of the game came in the final minute of the third quarter, but he chased it down for his third rebound of the game. The rookie bounced back from his first miss with a three-point play and transition finish through Jimmy Butler to put the Nuggets up 21 early in the fourth.

GAME RECAP

NUGGETS 109, HEAT 94

WHAT HAPPENED: The Nuggets used a big third quarter as they responded to coach Michael Malone’s pleas for better effort with a dominant Game 3 win on the road to take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals. Denver outscored Miami by nine points in that pivotal 12 minutes out of halftime as it was a complete effort on both sides of the ball that allowed them to take control of the game and retake control of the series. Jamal Murray delivered his best performance of the series, scoring 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting while also adding 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his own triple-double as he was the perfect complement to Nikola Jokic on Wednesday night.

STAR OF THE NIGHT: Speaking of Jokic, he once again stole the show in a playoff run that he’s owned for two months now. The two-time MVP tallied yet another postseason triple-double, totaling 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting with 21 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to post a 30-20-10 game. But it was about much more than offense for Jokic. As the Nuggets put together one of their best defensive performances of the playoffs, Jokic was out the forefront, disrupting shots at the rim.

OFF THE BENCH: Have a night, rook. Christian Braun picked the perfect time to have his best game of the postseason. Scoring a playoff career-high 15 points in 19 minutes off the bench, the rookie out of Kansas was everything the Nuggets needed in the massive Game 3 win.

UP NEXT: For the only time in this series, there is just one day off in between games. The two teams will meet again on Friday night in South Beach for Game 4. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

— Tyler King, The Denver Gazette