DENVER • A stretch late in the third quarter showcased the breadth of Nikola Jokic’s game, but it wasn’t enough for the Nuggets to stay unbeaten at home this postseason.

Miami stole home- court advantage from Denver with a 111-108 win Sunday at Ball Arena, despite another dominant game from Denver’s star center. Jokic finished with 41 points on 16 of 28 shooting. He made two of five attempted 3-pointers and seven of eight free throws, while adding 11 rebounds and four assists.

“The way Nikola closed that third quarter was tremendous,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “It kind of got us a little bit of rhythm going into that fourth quarter, gave us a little bit of breathing room.”

First, Denver’s dominant point center used his size to bully Cody Zeller. With the Nuggets up three in the final three minutes of the third, Jokic went through Zeller for a short hook shot. A couple of possessions later, Jokic muscled past Miami’s back-up center for a three-point play.

After displaying his strength, Jokic showed off his speed and endurance. When Christian Braun poked the ball away from Bam Adebayo with just over a minute left in the third, Jokic scooped up the

ball, sprinted down the court and finished through a crowd of defenders. A possession later, Jokic grabbed a defensive rebound and looked to be off to the races again. Instead of running with Jokic, Zeller grabbed his arm and took the foul. A free throw was the final point of Jokic’s 18-point third quarter.

“I just got going,” Jokic said. “I was just trying to score, simple as that.”

There was no breathing room 70 seconds later. With Jokic on the bench, Miami reserve Duncan Robinson outscored the Nuggets 8-2 in the first 1:10 of the fourth, cutting Denver’s lead to two and prompting Malone to take a timeout to get Jokic back in the game. Jokic added 10 more in the fourth to finish another big scoring night.

“I was just playing, and I don’t think, when I’m playing, about stats or whatever,” Jokic said

Jamal Murray finished as Denver’s second-leading scorer with 18 points, six of which came in the final three minutes. Jokic’s final bucket, a floater with 35.6 seconds left, made it a three-point game. The Nuggets got a stop and produced a shot to tie the game just before the buzzer, but Murray’s stepback 3 missed. Prior to Sunday, the last time the Nuggets lost a playoff game was Game 4 in Phoenix when Jokic scored a career-high 53 points. Murray didn’t see a connection.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with that. It’s defense and discipline,” Murray said. “We’ve just got to have an allaround game. … We can’t have spurts of good play. We’ve got to play all the way through, through ups and downs, stay together and play with intensity and energy, and I don’t think we had that.”

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra also shot down the notion that the way to beat the Nuggets is to let Jokic have a big scoring night and keep everyone else in check.

“That’s the untrained eye that says something like that,” Spoelstra said. “

“This guy is an incredible player. You know, twice in two seasons he’s been the best player on this planet. You can’t just say, ‘ Oh, make him a scorer.’ That’s not how they play. They have so many different actions that just get you compromised.”

Jokic’s four assists are the fewest he’s had in a game this postseason, but that didn’t seem to be the issue. Malone was most concerned with his team’s lack of effort and discipline. Jokic’s play is the least of the concerns.

“I trust Nikola. He’s going to read the game. He’s going to read how he’s being guarded, and he’s also going to pick his spots where he knows regardless of how he’s being guarded, we need him to score and be aggressive and look to score,” Malone said.

“Whether it’s 41 points, only four assists, or it’s 25 points and 15 assists, Nikola, one thing I trust about him is he’s going to make the right read time and time again.”

Rick Adelman honored pregame

Legendary NBA coach Rick Adelman, one 10 coaches to win more than 1,000 career games, was presented with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award during a pregame press conference.

Adelman, the father of Nuggets assistant David Adelman, coached the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings, Rockets and Timberwolves after his playing career. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra remembers spending a lot of time around the Adelman family while his father worked for the Timberwolves.

“He was the biggest inspiration,” Spoelstra said pregame. “Even to this day, I’ve just always admired the teams that he’s coached, the way they competed.”

David Adelman joined his father when he was honored on the court during a timeout early in the second quarter.

“I brought my son David in as a developmental coach. I wasn’t sure that was really a smart thing for me to do, to get him involved,” Rick Adelman said. “But he’s worked his way all the way up to first assistant, and he’s done it on his own. So it’s really a pleasure to see that for me. For a father and a coach, it means a lot.”