The Finals: Nuggets Win First NBA Championship
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After another close matchup, the Nuggets win Game 5 of NBA Finals 94 to 89 to clinch their first NBA Championship! This matchup was tight throughout the whole game with foul trouble early on for the Nuggets and the Heat having many chances to secure the game. The Nuggets ended their 47-year drought and brought home the trophy! The crowd was absolutely electric and the city couldn’t wait any more time to celebrate.
Miami Heat kept a small lead throughout the entire game until the fourth quarter when Nuggets turned up and secured the win. Both teams struggled big time from the three-point line with Nuggets only shooting 17.9% and the Heat only shooting 25.7%. The hoops were definitely not in a good mood. Nuggets seemed to go back to their old habits early in the playoffs only going 56.5% at the free-throw line. Heat went 87.5% at the charity stripe. Nuggets couldn’t keep control of the ball and had 14 turnovers, combined with 21 personal fouls. Miami could have taken the win if they hit their shots. The Nuggets definitely had the nerves playing at home with the chance of winning their first Finals.
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This game came down to the fourth quarter with a foul call that had Nuggets fans very upset. Jimmy Butler went up for a three-point shot with Aaron Gordon guarding and the refs called a foul because of contact of Gordon sticking his foot out in the direction of Butler so he could brace himself. No other contact was made by Gordon. Malone went ahead and challenged the call but after review the play was not overturned. Butler went on to score three points from the play. Many fans were mad and were calling the NBA “rigged”.
For the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler was in control. Scoring 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists going 40% at the three-point line. Bam Adebayo was also a main player scoring 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 assist. Coming out of nowhere, Kyle Lowry hit some important three-point shots in the fourth quarter to keep the game close. He scored 12 points and shot 44% from the three-point line.
After a long time of waiting, Tyler Herro was announced active and ready to play hours before the game. Herro was suited up on the sidelines but didn’t play a single minute. Udonis Haslam played more seconds than Herro did in this series. He was fully cleared to return from his broken hand, but Coach Spoelstra didn’t have a need to put him in. Herro looked antsy and waiting for coach to call his name to put him in. With Herro returning fully healthy next season, many fans think the Heat could be a powerhouse and return to the NBA Finals.
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Nikola Jokic was the star of the night for the Nuggets scoring 28 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 assists, while shooting 75% from the field. Jamal Murray had a rough night, scoring 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists shooting only 33.3% at the three-point line. The rookie Christian Braun had a good performance scoring 7 points, with 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. He played 24 minutes in Game 5. He wins his first NBA Championship in his first year. He’s also the 5th player all-time to win an NBA Championship a year after winning the NCAA Championship (he won with Kansas in 2022). An incredible accomplishment that not many have achieved. Deandre Jordan also got his first minutes of the NBA Finals. Jordan is a veteran in the league and has been playing for 15 seasons.
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In the last few seconds of the game, Denver had control of the ball and knew they had just won their first NBA Championship. The players rushed the court in excitement with the stadium shaking. While the others were celebrating, Jokic went up to every Heat player to thank them. Jamal Murray sat on the floor crying in tears of happiness and in awe. He suffered a torn ACL in his left knee missing the entire 2021-22 season. Murray put in countless hours of work and posted himself in the gym practicing during the Super Bowl back in February. He posted on twitter back in December 2021 and said “The work now will show later”. Bruce Brown squatted down and just stared off in the distance with disbelief. During the ceremony Coach Malone mentioned that they are not satisfied with this victory and that this is just the start.
To no one’s surprise, Nikola Jokic won the MVP award. The NBA Finals MVP one. Guess you can say he got the MVP he deserved this year. His wife, daughter, and brothers were there to celebrate. Many Nuggets fans thought the regular season MVP was stolen from Jokic (somewhere Mark Jackson is regretting not putting Jokic on his ballot). During the postseason, Jokic scored 600 points, added 269 rebounds, and 190 assists. That stat line is the 5th most by a player all-time in the post season. LeBron James is number one with 1,146 combined points. Jokic treated his MVP win like the “employee of the year”. He just left the trophy on the front table during the celebration ceremony. Later Jokic said “I left it in the equipment managers room and it’s not there anymore, so I don’t know”. Jokic finally got the recognition he deserves with Nike posting an ad for him on TV and showing it in Time Square. Could a signature shoe deal be coming soon for him?
The festivities continued after the game in the locker room with champagne and goggles for the players. Jokic was caught in the corner just enjoying a beer while the rest of the team celebrated. Jokic later seemed like the life of the party pouring beer on players heads during interviews. Jokic later pushed Jamal Murray into the facilities training pools. His next stop after the parade will be back in Serbia where he plans to race horses (his true passion he says) on Sunday.
After the game, thousands of fans filled the street with people climbing on light posts and fireworks being shot off. Aaron Gordon decided to join the fans in the streets celebrating. It seemed he had no security with him, but didn’t seem to care. After all he just became an NBA Champion, he felt like he was on top of the world.
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Thursday morning was a highlight for the City of Denver. The Nuggets Championship parade had an attendance of over 700,000 people, the most the city has seen for a parade. The previous year the Avalanche parade had 500,000 people attend. In a postgame interview after Game 5, Jokic didn’t seem thrilled at all to be at the parade and just wanted to go home to see his horses race on Sunday, but that seemed to change. During the ceremony at the parade Jokic stated that, “I (not so friendly word) want to stay at parade”. Jokic and Murray also rode in a military vehicle going into the state capitol.
Michael Malone seemed to be having the time of his life at the parade celebrating with fans holding a shirt that said “B**** I’m a Nugget”. Many fans were concerned about Bruce Brown’s future but Malone said “Hell no he is staying”. Malone said “we are running this back for another year. Many Nuggets fans think this is a start of a dynasty.”
Speaking of records, these Playoffs were the most watched in 5 years. Denver seems to be the home of sports with championship parades in back-to-back years. The Nuggets and Avalanche are both favored to win their championships next year. The Mammoth have won 2 out of the last 3 championships in the National Lacrosse League too.
After a 47 year drought the Denver Nuggets have finally won their first NBA Championship and it will go down in the history books. Next season will feature more storylines and more fun. The Nuggets will have a championship to defend, the East will be loaded with young talent and Ja Morant will be watching from the sidelines until December. Morant has been handed a 25 game suspension from the NBA for his “reckless conduct” with guns. It will be interesting to see how that affects the Grizzlies early next season. Thanks to everyone that has followed along and been able to watch this year’s NBA Playoffs. In the words of Jokic, “basketball is a fun sport”. Yes it is MVP. Yes it is.
