The Denver Nuggets are the new NBA champions. The Nuggets closed out the NBA Finals series against the Miami Heat in five games with an 89-94 win on Monday night.
This is the first title for the Nuggets in what was their first appearance in the NBA finals. They previously had one appearance in ABA Finals in 1975–76.
Game 5 didn’t start well for the Nuggets, with the Heat looking like they might extend the series. Miami held a seven-point lead at the half, and it seemed that they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
However, Denver obviously wasn’t in the mood to travel back to Miami. The Nuggets’ stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray then took over in the second half, hitting key shots while the entire team dialed in on the defensive end.
In the last minute of the game, with Denver up by one, the Nuggets’ swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got a key steal and then converted two free throws to get his team the cushion they needed to get the job done.
Jokic ended up taking home the Larry O’Brien trophy as the NBA Finals MVP with a unanimous vote. The Serbian star center averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists over the course of the finals.
“The job is done, and we can go home now,” Jokic said after the game.
Now that the Nuggets got their first taste of glory, they don’t intend to stop there. Denver’s head coach Mike Malone believes this is the first step in his team becoming a dynasty.
“We accomplished something this franchise has never done before, but we have a lot of young talented players in that locker room, and I think we just showed through 16 playoff wins what we’re capable of on the biggest stage in the world,” said Malone.
