Via ESPN.com:
In the biggest game in Denver Nuggets history, veteran DeAndre Jordan had a second-half message for Jamal Murray during a timeout.
“Go win this game,” Jordan was heard saying on the broadcast. “Twelve minutes bro and you in history.
“Immortal.”
Murray, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets heeded the call for history, doing what they have done this entire magical postseason and adapting to any obstacle or defensive wrinkle thrown their way.
After opening Monday night’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals missing an abysmal 20 of their first 22 3-point attempts, the Nuggets came up with championship-winning plays in the final minutes.
From Jokic’s basket inside with 2:24 left to Bruce Brown’s putback with 1:31 to go, to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s steal off a Jimmy Butler pass with 27.1 seconds left, the Nuggets came up with all the big plays to win their first-ever NBA championship with a hard-fought 94-89 win over the Miami Heat at an overjoyed Ball Arena.
Via ESPN.com:
Nikola Jokic might not have won this third straight Most Valuable Player award this season, but he still ended up with an MVP trophy after all.
In addition to finally getting the championship he has coveted, Jokic was named NBA Finals MVP after the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Miami Heat, 94-89, in Game 5 at Ball Arena.
Jokic closed out Miami with 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists to help the Nuggets win the franchise’s first-ever NBA title. Like each opponent the Nuggets faced this postseason, the Heat had very little answers for Jokic.
When asked how it feels to be an NBA champion, Jokic told ESPN’s Lisa Salters on the court: “It’s good. It’s good. The job is done, and we can go home now.”
Prior to this championship run, Jokic, 28, was already considered one of the best players of his generation. But now that he has won a championship and a Finals MVP, one NBA Hall of Famer says this catapults the Serbian big man into a different stratosphere.
