2023-06-13 04:15:00
Summary
DENVER, Colo. — Nikola Jokic had 28 points, and the Denver Nuggets rallied from a ten-point second-half deficit to claim their first NBA title in 47 years on Monday night by beating the Miami Heat. 94 to 89 in Game 5.
The Nuggets can thus celebrate their conquest of the Larry-O’Brien trophy in front of their supporters gathered at the Ball Arena in Denver.
Michael Malone’s men had the upper hand 26-20 in the third quarter before winning by the same priority (24-18) in the last quarter, en route to this triumph.
” It’s good. The job is done and we can go home now,” the Serb said with his own detachment, even in the greatest moment of his career.
“I think we played our best basketball. I don’t know if it was playoffs, but it was really good basketball. »
“It’s not just the five starters. Since day 1, I felt that there was something special. I had hope that we could accomplish something,” added the man who received the title of MVP for the final.
Canadian Jamal Murray, who hails from Kitchener, Ont., provided 14 points and eight assists in the historic victory.
Kantavious Caldwell-Pope, author of 11 points, had a most crucial interception at the expense of Jimmy Butler, while Miami trailed 92-89 in the last minute of play.
“The fans in this city are incredible,” exclaimed team owner Stan Kroenke. It means a lot to us to do this. »
“What stands out is that I was the victim of a turnover,” Butler said after the game about what he remembered from the battle of turnovers in this duel.
“I would have liked to be able to complete the work for my teammates. They deserve it. I’m still going to say that I’m grateful to have lived this moment with them, “said Butler, adding that his ankle was not a problem for him in this match.
For the Heat, crowned in 2006, 2012 and 2013, this failure is the fourth in seven opportunities after those of 2011, 2014 and 2020.
“I want to congratulate the Nuggets. It is a first class organization. They are a whole basketball team. We couldn’t come up with enough solutions to get out of it,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.
“The last three minutes, I thought I was in a movie with the two teams replicating each other. We saw the effort and the level of intensity is what we should see in this league. There are no regrets on our side. There are just times when you get beat up and Denver was the best team in this series,” Spoelstra added.
Amorphous Nuggets in the 1st half
However, it was off to a bad start for the team led by Michael Malone, who surprisingly trailed by seven points (51 to 44) at halftime.
Indeed, that this bitter fifth game was complicated at home for the Colorado franchise, long struggling from long distance (5/23) and free throws (13/23), shaken by the fierce defense of Miami and, probably , hands a little shaky at the time of concluding the series (4-1).
Especially since Jimmy Butler donned his superhero cape in the last quarter, scoring 13 of his 21 points in three minutes. But he ended up cracking, with a bad pass and a missed shot in the dying seconds.
“It was ugly and we couldn’t score, but in the end, we understood,” said Jokic, unsurprisingly the recipient of the Bill-Russell trophy given to the “MVP” of the final.
“I’m just happy that we won the game. »
The Heat’s leading scorer since the start of the final series, Bam Adebayo again distinguished himself in the first half of Game 5, collecting 18 points and providing nine rebounds.
Jimmy Butler and Max Strus had eight points apiece, while veteran Kyle Lowry had two 3-pointers late in the second quarter. He eventually totaled four in the encounter.
Quickly confined to the Nuggets bench after picking up two individual fouls in the first quarter, Jokic couldn’t do as much damage as usual in the first half, containing nine points and four assists in 18 minutes of play .
Jokic then doubled his points tally by playing the entire third quarter, helping Denver close the gap to 71-70. The Serb then added another ten points in the final quarter.
“Miami is a great, courageous, extraordinary team, which I respect a lot. It was an incredible effort from our team,” said Jokic.
The latter was asked by a journalist if it was the best period in the world of sport for Serbia with the recent victory of Novak Djokovic at Roland-Garros.
“It must be!” I’ll see if he wrote to me, he said before looking at his phone and cursing at the amount of messages received. I’m going to have to turn off my phone. »
“For us, he is arguably the best and now we have an NBA title. It’s really a good time to be a Serb,” he said to close his press briefing.
As for the finalist team, the Heat will have thwarted the forecasts, by dismissing the Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reborn Knicks and the Celtics finalists last year.
But the mountain at the foot of the Rockies, nicknamed “Mile High City” for its 1609m altitude, was too high for the Floridians, who dreamed of making history by becoming the first seeded No. 8 team. NBA champion.
The last ten NBA champions :
2023 : Nuggets de Denver
2022 : Warriors de Golden State
2021: Milwaukee Bucks
2020 : Los Angeles Lakers
2019 : Toronto Raptors
2018 : Warriors de Golden State
2017 : Warriors de Golden State
2016 : Cavaliers de Cleveland
2015 : Warriors de Golden State
2014: San Antonio Spurs
The most successful teams (in brackets, date of the last title) :
1. Celtics de Boston 17 (2008)
. Los Angeles Lakers 17 (2020)
3. Warriors de Golden State 7 (2022)
4. Chicago Bulls 6 (1998)
5. San Antonio Spurs 5 (2014)
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