The Denver Nuggets won the first NBA title in franchise history tonight, besting the Miami Heat in Game 5 and taking the best of seven series 4-1. The new champions won 94-89.
Nikola Jokić was named the Finals MVP, contributing 28 points and 16 rebounds in Game 5 and becoming the first center to win Finals MVP since Shaquille O’Neal in 2002. Jokić finished the Finals averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.4 steals, according to NBA.com. He also the first player in NBA history to lead the playoffs in total points, rebounds, and assists.
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“It’s good, it’s good,” Jokić told ESPN after the win, before ending with a typically laconic, “The job is done, we can go home now.”
The two-time league MVP also said, “It was an amazing effort by the team. It was an ugly game. We couldn’t make shots but at the end, we figured out how to defend.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone praised Jokić calling him “a great person.”
“He’s a great husband, father and son and brother. And on the basketball court he has proven time and time again that he’s the best player in the NBA,” Malone added. “He’s our MVP, we love him and we’re thankful that he’s wearing a Nuggets’ uniform.”
The Nuggets just won their first NBA title but Malone is ready to win another.
“The last step after a champion is to be a dynasty,” he said in the post-game conference. “So, we’re not satisfied. We accomplished something that this franchise has never done before but we have a lot of young and talented players in the locker room and I think we just showed through 16 playoff wins what we’re capable of on the biggest stage in the world.”
Other notable Denver players included Michael Porter Jr. who scored 16 points and Jamal Murray added 14 points to the board.
Franchise owner Stan Kroenke also has a stat line he can brag about. With the Nuggets win tonight, Kroenke’s teams have won championships in three of America’s four major sports, with the Rams winning two Super Bowls, the Avalanche winning two Stanley Cups and now the Nuggets winning an NBA Championship.
Watch the moment the Denver Nuggets won in the video posted below.
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