DENVER — The Denver Nuggets won their first NBA title on Monday night, defeating the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Nikola Jokic scored 28 points and added 16 rebounds to lead the Nuggets, who won the best-of-seven series 4-1. It was the team’s first NBA title in 47 years in the league. The Nuggets were league runners-up in 1976 when they played in the old ABA. They joined the NBA starting with the 1976-77 season and raised the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time on Monday.
“It was an amazing effort by the team,” Jokic said after the game. “It was an ugly game. We couldn’t make shots but at the end, we figured out how to defend.”
YOUR DENVER NUGGETS ARE THE 2023 NBA CHAMPIONS 🏆#bRINGItIn pic.twitter.com/aOHqbUYwOx
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023
Denver rallied from a 51-44 halftime deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter and held off the Heat down the stretch to clinch the title in front of a cheering home crowd at Ball Arena.
“We’re not satisfied with one,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters.
Miami fought back gamely, taking an 89-88 lead with less than two minutes to play. But Bruce Brown’s basket with 1:13 remaining in regulation gave the Nuggets the lead for good.
Kentavious Caldwell-Page made a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to play to give the Nuggets a three-point lead. Brown added two more free throws 10 seconds later to give Denver a 94-89 advantage.
Michael Porter Jr. had 16 points for the Nuggets and Jamal Murray added 14.
Jimmy Butler led Miami with 21 points. Bam Adebayo scored 20, including 18 in the first half.
The Nuggets went 16-4 during the NBA playoffs and won 10 of their last 11 games, The Denver Post reported.
The Heat was trying to stay alive in the series in a quest to win their fourth NBA title. Miami won championships in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
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