The Denver Nuggets won their first NBA Championship on Monday night, taking down the Miami Heat 94-89 in game five of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena in Denver. Denver wins the best of seven series 4-1, and capture the title in their first Finals appearance in the 47 year history of their franchise.
After allowing the first five points of the game, Denver went on a 12-0 run to take a seven point lead in the first quarter. They led by as many as eight, which was their largest advantage of the night. Miami took back control leading by two after the opening 12 minutes, and would extend it to 39-29 on a Duncan Robinson finger roll with 7:17 left in the second quarter. The Heat took a 51-44 lead to the halftime break.
Miami would lead a majority of the third quarter, before Denver jumped back in front on a Michael Porter, Jr. three-pointer 69-66 with 1:31 to go. The Heat would take a slight one point advantage to the fourth 71-70 on a long three-pointer by Kyle Lowry. After regaining the lead, it certainly felt like the Nuggets had put it away when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a three-pointer with just over four minutes left to play to make it 86-79. Jimmy Butler willed his Miami team back into it however, scoring 13 straight points after tallying only eight points over the first three quarters. His short pull-up jumpshot with 2:47 remaining finished off an 8-0 run to push the Heat ahead 87-86. After Nikola Jokic put Denver back up by a point, Butler got fouled and hit two free throws with 1:58 showing on the clock to give the Heat their final lead 89-88. Bruce Brown had the game winner for the Nuggets, getting to a weak side rebound off a Jamal Murray missed jumper and laying it in. In the final 30 seconds, Caldwell-Pope would intercept a Butler pass for a steal and hit two from the line and Brown added two more from the charity stripe with 14 seconds left to ice it.
Jokic led the way with 28 points (12-16 from the floor), 16 rebounds, and four assists while earning the Finals MVP. Jokic averaged 30 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists in the series. He also became the first player to have a 30 point, 20 rebound, 10 assist triple double in a Finals game (game three), and the first to lead all players in a postseason in points, rebounds, and assists. He had eight games in these playoffs with 20 or more points and at least 15 rebounds. Porter Jr. also had a double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Murray finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists and also finished off a superb five games by averaging over 21 points per contest. Caldwell-Pope (11 points) and Brown (10 points) also finished in double figures as Denver finally climbs to the top of the mountain finishing a fantastic season with a record of 69-33 (including 16-4 in the postseason). Miami capped off an improbable run to the championship series as the #8 seed out of the Eastern Conference. The Heat after having to win a second play-in game to get into the playoffs would then knock off top seed Milwaukee in five games, the fifth seeded New York Knicks in six, and the two seed Boston Celtics on the road in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals for a chance to play Denver for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The Heat were led by Butler who would score 21 points. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Max Strus (12 points), Lowry (12 points), and Caleb Martin (10 points) also got into double figures as they end their season with a record of 58-49.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlight video is courtesy of the NBA website
