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The Denver Nuggets celebrate after beating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
CNN –
The Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship Monday night by defeating the Miami Heat 94-89 at the Ball Arena in Denver to secure Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokić led the Nuggets with a game-best 28 points and 16 rebounds.
“It was an incredible performance by the team,” he told ABC after the game. “It was an ugly game. We couldn’t get any shots but in the end we figured out how to defend ourselves.”
The tall Serb was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player and is the first center since the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal in 2002 to win the award, named after the late Bill Russell.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said: “Nikola Jokić is a great person.” He is a great husband, father, son and brother. And on the basketball court, he’s proven time and time again that he’s the best player in the NBA. He’s our MVP, we love him and we’re thankful he wears the Nuggets uniform.”
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Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon celebrate after beating the Miami Heat.
Jokić, 28, hit ten triple-doubles in total, overtaking Wilt Chamberlain (seven) for the most hits ever in a single playoff run. He also ended the postseason as the first player in NBA history to lead all players in points, rebounds and assists in a single postseason. according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. had 16 points and 13 boards and Jamal Murray contributed 14 points.
“All of the hard work, all of the sacrifice, all of the dedication, all of that led to us winning a championship,” Malone told ABC. “But I have news for everyone out there: we’re not happy with one. We want more. We want more.”
Jimmy Butler had 21 points and Bam Adebayo had 20, leading Miami, who surprised the NBA by reaching the finals as number eight.
Denver struggled with free throws and 3-point lines but led by as much as seven points in the fourth quarter. But the Heat put on a 13-5 run to lead by a point, 89-88, with 1:58 remaining in the contest.
Denver scored the final six points of the game with Bruce Brown hitting a putback layup with 91 seconds left and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Brown scoring free throws in the last minute. Miami failed to make a connection as the Heat players attempted multiple 3-pointers.
“We have no regrets. You know, sometimes you get hit, and Denver was the better basketball team that series,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “I would say it will probably be our toughest, most competitive and most active defensive game of the season and it still fell short.”
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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of the Denver Nuggets drives to the basket against the Miami Heat during game five of the 2023 NBA Finals on June 12, 2023 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
The Nuggets won despite a 5:28 record on three-pointers – they missed 20 of their first 22 attempts – and 13:23 on the free throw line.
The Nuggets, who played in the American Basketball Association for nine seasons beginning in 1967, joined the NBA prior to the 1976–1977 season.
The city will host a parade and celebration for the Nuggets on Thursday.
Prior to this season, the team’s 47th season in the NBA, Denver had made four conference finals in franchise history (1978, 1985, 2009, 2020), losing to the Los Angeles Lakers each time.
That season, the Nuggets defeated the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.