Denver Nuggets win first NBA championship, besting Heat in Game 5
It wasn't pretty, but the Denver Nuggets were able to hold off the feisty Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday night for a 94-89 win, giving the franchise its first title and doing so in front of a raucous home crowd.
In a physical and often sloppy back-and-forth battle, the Nuggets were able to overcome a poor shooting night thanks to the brilliance on Nikola Jokic, who finished the night with 28 points — on 12-for-16 shooting — to go along with 16 rebounds. He was named Finals MVP.
For most of the night, Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome the early struggles of Heat star Jimmy Butler. Butler briefly got going in crunch time, and finished with 21 points and five assists. This is the second time in the past four seasons the Heat have fallen in the Finals.
[Nuggets' title is sweet validation for a rare, patient approach]
Stats to know
46
The amount of seasons that it took the Nuggets franchise to win a title.
-5
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Heat, looking to give Adebayo some rest, turned to Cody Zeller. The Nuggets then reeled off five points in less than a minute before Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra subbed Zeller out. Zeller registered a minus-5, which is the amount of points the Heat lost by.
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14-63
What the Nuggets and Heat combined to shoot from deep in Game 5. The Heat shot 25.7% from deep, the Nuggets shot 17.9.
Play of the game
This wasn't the most electric play of the night, but it was the one that sealed the victory for the Nuggets.
Quote of the game
Up next for the Heat
Is this the end of the run for Miami, or can they figure out a way to bring in some more offensive juice to help Butler carry the load?
You never want to bet against the Heat, and as long as Spoelstra and Pat Riley are in charge, you know this will be a formidable group. But as great as Butler is, the Heat need someone else who can generate offense for them in these sorts of games.
[Heat won the East but will enter offseason with bigger goals for 2024]
Up next for the Nuggets
It's party time in Denver, and the best news for Nuggets fans is that this team isn't going anywhere. All the core pieces are young and under contract.
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Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He is the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.