NBA Finals.
Denver Nuggets win the 2023 NBA Finals 94-89 in a 5 game series against the Miami Heat. And For the first time in Denver Nuggets history the Nuggets organization are champions. Center Nikola Jokic was presented with the NBA finals MVP honors after putting on a masterful display of basketball in the finals. Jokic averaged 30.2 points 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists against Miami in the 5 game series.
Jokic was a back to back MVP winner and was runner up for MVP this season. Jokic isn’t impressed with the bright lights, trophies and awards other than the NBA Championship. After he was presented with the Finals MVP award Jokic was asked where he kept his MVP trophy and he jokingly replied “I don’t know, I don’t know where it is”. Which only really scrapes the surface of what kind of competitor Jokic really is. Second in command Guard, Jamal Murray stepped up big in the playoff run that Denver put together.
Murray finished the postseason averaging 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.5 steals with 39.6 percent shooting from behind the arc. Head Coach Mike Malone was asked after winning the championship:
“why do you believe this is only the beginning and not the end” Malone responded with “Pat Reilly spoke years ago about the evolution of this game, how you go from a nobody to an upstart, an upstart to a winner, a winner to a contender to a champion and the last step after a champion is to be a dynasty”.
Malone believes that the success of this organization is now the standard moving forward. Pat Reilly and the Miami organization deserve all the credit in the world after the performance they put on during their playoff run. Miami entered the playoffs as the number 8 seed and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. Against all odds Miami continued to persevere and was determined to get to the finals. Jimmy Butler stepped up during this playoff run tremendously, averaging 26.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 22 games in the 2023 playoffs. Compared to his regular season, 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.
