Denver Nuggets Close Out Miami Heat to Win 1st NBA Title in Franchise History

The Denver Nuggets overcame a seven point halftime deficit to beat a stubborn Miami Heat team 94-89 in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals, and taking the series 4-1. The Nuggets won their first NBA championship, in their 47th season.

Nikola Jokic led all scorers with 28 points and 16 rebounds. The Denver center nearly averaged a triple double in his 20 post season games, averaging 30 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game. He won the Bill Russell trophy as the Finals’ MVP, to the surprise of no one. Michael Porter, Jr. scored 16 and had 13 rebounds, while Jamal Murray scored 14 with eight rebounds and eight assists. He averaged 26.1 points and 7.1 assists per game in the playoffs. Murray missed the entire 2021-22 season with an ACL injury, but returned to top level form as an integral part of the team.

Denver was the #1 seed in the Western Conference, and beat Minnesota, Phoenix, and the L.A. Lakers on the way to the finals. The Nuggets post season record was 16-4, which included a four game sweep of the Lakers.

While Miami’s season ended as the runner up, the Heat’s post season run was incredible. The number eight seed in the Eastern Conference almost didn’t make it out of the play in round but beat Milwaukee, New York, and Boston on their way to the Finals. Erik Spoelstra should be regarded as one of the better NBA head coaches in the game today. Since taking over as head coach in in 2008, his teams have won two NBA titles and been runner up four other times. His regular season record is 704-491, a winning percentage of .589, and his post season is 109-75, a .592 percentage.