Nikola Jokic is already an NBA champion. The Denver Nuggets made history at home on Monday by beating the Miami Heat in five games. That leaves them down just ten on the list of teams who have never won a title after that glorious night in Colorado.
The Larry O’Brien Trophy finally comes to a city with 47 years of basketball history. The coveted championship went to Denver thanks to a portly European star with sad eyes and unparalleled style. The Serbian center conquered the league after an impressive run in the playoffs: 600 points, 209 rebounds and 190 assists. He is first in each category, which earned him the Finals’ MVP trophy. In doing so, he decides a debate that was open until recently about whether he should have won his first regular season. The championship ring settled this discussion in its favor.
Jokic found fame after being drafted 41st in the first round. At the time, the Serb slept in his parents’ house. Those who followed the team in the United States did not hear that name, since an advertisement for Taco Bell was aired at the time it began its history in the league. So that was a final claim. Perhaps most emotional was Jamal Murray, a player who wept with joy. In 2021 he tore a patellar tendon in his left knee. After the operation, he began a long recovery that kept him away from sports until October 2022. This Monday he turned over the final chapter of that injury.
In order to make history, the Nuggets had to change the script in Game 5. Although Denver won three games by double-digit margins, Miami was a losing machine. Before tonight, the Florida players had 114 points, while Denver had 94. Tonight, the locals had to neutralize Jimmy Butler and show that defense wins championships too.
Five games seemed to consume the Vulcan butler. After finding fame as a miracle worker, the Miami star barely appeared in the game that had her life on the line. At the beginning he missed two free throws, which seemed like the harbinger of a discreet evening. Butler was used to confronting and penetrating, preferring on several occasions to pass his open teammates in search of three-pointers. He scored just eight points in three quarters, leaving his team’s offense in the hands of Bam Adebayo (20), Max Strus (12) and Kyle Lowry, who made four 3-pointers and missed one with less than a minute left changed the course of the night.
Miami topped the scoreboard for the first three quarters. They launched like a hurricane, confident they could prolong the epic that marked a historic breakthrough. They were only the second team to start from eighth place in a conference through to the finals. A testament to the hard work ahead is the fact that Max Strus played his 105th game tonight. You have to go back to the Lakers-Celtics finals 13 years ago to find someone who saw so much action in one season.
Butler and Jokic grab a rebound in Game 5 of the series. Kyle Terada (USA TODAY Sports via Portal Con)
Denver seemed stunned by the blistering pace set by Miami from the start. They lost three balls in the first few minutes, losing fourteen in the entire game (eight for Miami). They warmed up. And with them the 19,500 spectators. The great atmosphere in the Ballstadion was not only the work of the players. Also a pet, a mountain lion named Rocky. In addition to Jokic, the Nuggets have the NBA’s star cheerleader. The acrobat has accompanied the team since the Dikembe Mutombo years. Last year, it was revealed that his salary is $625,000, a figure well in excess of other animators. To make up for his salary, Rocky keeps the crowd from falling into beer and hot dog insomnia by juggling and shooting backwards from the half court.
Jamal Murray’s 3-pointer leveled the game in the third quarter, forcing Butler into survival mode in the closing minutes of his season. He hit a 3-point throw that put Miami within four points of the Nuggets in the fourth quarter. Seconds later, he dribbled into the corner to attempt another shot between doubles. The referees ruled a foul. Mark Malone, the locals’ coach, asked that the play be reviewed because he believed Butler had made the contact. Cold-blooded and almost twenty thousand souls against it, he managed three free throws. Butler was defeated while playing the entire playoffs and fighting until the last minute. In his final quarter, he scored 13 points.
A new legacy in the West?
The series began on June 1 without arousing too much enthusiasm in the United States. Perhaps because the NBA fans preferred a final with the losers of the conference duels, the Celtics and the Lakers, who have a great track record in the history of basketball. Also because Boston and Los Angeles are much more symbolic than little Denver and chaotic Miami. But the finale gave clear indications that fans may be facing a legacy that is about to be born.
“They want more? Want more?” coach Mark Malone called out to the fans after raising the trophy. The audience didn’t leave their seats and it was raining confetti. On a makeshift platform in the court, the franchise that originally got its start in the ABA, the Rebel Basketball League, is now wondering if this is the first time too much. Jokic is 28 years old. Aaron Gordon is 27, Murray is 26 and Michael Porter is 24. They all have at least two years left on their contracts, which makes one wonder if a new giant is about to be born in the West tonight.
This Monday there was a nod to the Nuggets, who have played nine ABA seasons that have been innovative with triples, allowed for a more physical style and had a three-color ball. Four teams were acquired by the NBA in 1976. Davis Skywalker Thomspon, one of the legends of this team, was present at the stadium to take a free kick. He missed his chance tonight but everyone reminds him of a 73-point game in the late 1980s. Only Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain surpass him in a single performance. Then again, Skywalker never gave the team a title. Those were Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray’s nuggets.
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