The Nuggets Won the Finals The Way No One Thought They Could

Three thoughts on how Denver beat Miami to win the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship.

For the first time in their 47-year history, the Nuggets are NBA champions. Denver knocked out Miami in a grueling, back-and-forth Game 5 to clinch the title. The Nugs ultimately held on for a 94–89 win after a tense fourth quarter, and Nikola Jokic was unsurprisingly named Finals MVP.

Here are three thoughts on the final game of the season.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray both played at least 41 minutes in Denver’s title-clinching win, contributing a combined 42 points, 24 rebounds and 12 assists :: Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports

The Nuggets clinched how no one thought they could

They did it defensively. All year long, pundits, critics and Jokic skeptics waited for Denver’s defense to be exposed. That never turned out to be the case in the postseason. The Nuggets held Miami to only 89 points Monday, the fourth time in the series Denver held Miami to under 100 points, all wins. The slower pace helped with that, but so did the Nugs’ defensive effort. Denver finished the postseason with a 110.2 defensive rating, a mark that would have been good enough for second in the regular season. Jokic routinely bothered Miami at the rim, while his teammates on the perimeter hounded Miami’s shooters.

The biggest play of the game was actually a defensive stop. With the Heat trailing by one in the final minute and threatening to finish a furious comeback. Jimmy Butler attacked Jamal Murray on a switch. But Murray stayed with Butler step for step as he forayed into the paint. Then Jokic came to help at the rim. With Butler having nowhere to go, he made a bad pass and turned the ball over. The Nuggets iced the game with free throws the rest of the way.

KCP WITH THE BIG STEAL 😱

(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/RzKZCFUYG5

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 13, 2023

Too little, too late from Jimmy Butler

At his best this postseason, Jimmy Butler was as good as any player in the NBA. But he never regained his efficiency after hurting his ankle in the first game of the second round, and as the Heat’s shooting went cold, Butler couldn’t save them. Jimmy shot only 5-of-18 in Game 5, his second-worst shooting performance of the playoffs. The subpar scoring could not have come at a worse time for Miami, which was in position to steal the game all night. Butler caught fire late in the fourth and hit a couple of threes. If anything though, his hot stretch in the final period left you wondering if Miami could have been in control had he played like that all night.

Butler finished the series scoring only 21.6 points on 41.3% shooting, both lower than where he was during the regular season. Still, during Butler’s tenure Miami leads the league in playoff wins and Finals appearances. The Heat can do much worse than their current leader. If they acquire him some scoring help, this team can be dangerous again next year.

The league is now chasing Nikola Jokic

The Nuggets, and Jokic in particular, had answers for everything thrown their way this postseason. No defensive coverage could slow down Jokic and Jamal Murray, and no offense was potent enough to outscore them consistently. Heck, the Suns needed historic shooting performances from two of the best scorers ever only to squeak out two wins. 

Jokic is at the mountaintop, and any team hoping to win a championship needs to figure out how to solve all the problems he presents. He can’t be exploited in the pick-and-roll as much as people wish he could be. And offensively, his two-man game with Murray is by far the deadliest action in the world right now. The Nuggets are poised for long-term success. And all contenders need to start planning this summer for how they can topple Denver, a team that at times hardly seemed to break a sweat in the playoffs.

For all the quibbling over Jokic’s MVPs over the last few seasons, he earned the last laugh on Monday. Whether anyone is doubting he’s the best player alive at this point is irrelevant. He’s proven what he can do with a healthy team. And now any organization hoping to win a title will have to go through the Joker.