The Denver Nuggets overcame a late deficit and withstood a comeback attempt by Jimmy Butler to win Game 5 of the NBA Finals and their first NBA title.
For the first time in the team’s 47 years of existence, the Denver Nuggets can finally call themselves NBA champions.
On Monday night, the Nuggets hosted the Miami Heat for Game 5 with the chance to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the line.
Denver trailed for the majority of the game but were able to take their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter. Those final 12 minutes were far from easy, from contending with Jimmy Butler catching fire late in the game, to a questionable foul call on Aaron Gordon. But missed shots by the Heat allowed the Nuggets to clinch the 94-89 victory and their first NBA title in front of their fans at Ball Arena.
Nuggets win their first NBA championship with epic Game 5 victory: Best memes, tweets
Now, let’s take a look at some of the reactions on Twitter following a dramatic final game of the 2022-23 NBA season.
In Game 5, Jokic led the way for the Nuggets once again, scoring 28 points while making 12-of-16 field goal attempts, and hauled in 16 rebounds (15 on defense) to notch a double-double.
Unsurprisingly, Jokic was named the 2023 NBA Finals MVP, receiving all 11 votes from a media panel, and received the Bill Russell trophy. In the five games he played against the Heat, Jokic averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 assists, and 7.2 assists, while posting a field goal percentage of 58.3.
It was also quite the moment for Jamal Murray, who tore his ACL late in the 2020-21 season and missed the following campaign. Now, he is an NBA champion.
For the Heat, the magic ran out. They were able to make it out of the play-in tournament as the No. 8 seed, upset the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, defeated the New York Knicks in six games in the second round, and prevented a near-epic collapse against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals to reach this point. Unfortunately for them, the Nuggets were their biggest challenge.
Butler nearly put the team on his back late in Game 5, going on a run to potentially push the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Thursday. This was after going 2-for-12 from the field for the entire game up until the final six minutes. But, he missed a late three-point attempt that allowed the Nuggets to close out the game.
Nuggets fans, enjoy this one, as your favorite team is finally NBA champions.