By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
47 years of darkness.
Four decades of heartbreak.
Finally, the Denver Nuggets can now call themselves NBA champions after finishing off the Miami Heat in Game 5, 94-89, to win their first-ever Larry O’ Brien trophy last June 13, 2023.
Nikola Jokic once again led his team in the title-clinching win, scoring 28 big points, 16 rebounds, and four assists while also taking home the 2023 Bill Rusell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
It was what everyone expected.
Miami came out surging and showed resiliency for four-straight quarters but the bigger and the hungrier Denver squad showed out again in the second half to finish the finals series in a dominant 4-1 fashion.
The Heat came out firing in the first half and confused Denver again when they mixed up their zone defensive schemes.
However, just when the Heat thought they could replicate its Game 2 avalanche, the Nuggets then responded and countered Erik Spoelstra’s zone when Michael Porter Jr. didn’t settle for threes.
Porter Jr.’s aggressiveness going to the hole and his sneaky backdoor cuts rewarded Denver with several loopholes in the Miami zone.
It was also a fitting ending to Porter Jr.’s 2023 NBA Finals game performance after recording his best outing in five games, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists.
The Heat had plenty of buckets from Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Jimmy Butler but the trio provided no answer to Denver’s final run in the fourth.
Butler looked to take over the game in the fourth and unleashed a personal scoring stretch to help the Heat take an 87-86 lead, with only 2:36 remaining in Game 5.
After Denver stretched their lead to seven points, 83-76, Butler went crazy and showed shades of his Milwaukee performance when he unleashed eight-straight points to increase the Heat’s chances of stealing the game.
Stepping up for the Nuggets in the clutch stretch was Jokic who scored an easy layup backstopped by Bruce Brown who was able to grab a crucial offensive rebound turned into a deuce to help Denver back up by a point, 90-89.
Miami had the chance to retake the lead with 37 seconds left in the game but Butler committed a costly turnover when he dished out a pass to Max Struss who is waiting in the right corner.
Brown and Kentavious-Caldwell Pope then iced the game for Denver after hitting the four-most important shots from the charity stripe that ballooned their lead to five points.
“That’s why basketball is a fun sport. It’s a live thing. You cannot say, ‘This is going to happen’. There are so many factors. I’m just happy that we won the game,” said Jokic after winning his first NBA title.
