Denver Nuggets cruise into early lead against Miami Heat in NBA Finals
- Jason Soutar
- 2 June 2023
Nikola Jokic dominates once again as the Denver Nuggets take an early lead in the NBA finals against the Miami Heat.
The Denver Nuggets cruised to an 11-point win over a lacklustre Miami Heat in the first game of the NBA finals.
Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic was pivotal in the 104-93 victory, picking up a seamless triple-double in his finals debut.
Miami had no defensive answers for the 28-year-old Serbian, who orchestrated Denver's offence before finishing with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
Nikola Jokic notched a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut 😤 pic.twitter.com/egAGZO8Lb5
— ESPN (@espn) June 2, 2023
Outside of the first few minutes, Denver never looked like losing - much to the appreciation of a raucous home crowd.
Bam Adebayo had a strong showing for the Heat as he picked up a team-high 26 points, but he had little help from an inconsistent offence.
On the other hand, Jokic was ably assisted by a 26-point effort from Jamal Murray, while fellow starters Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr added 16 and 14 points respectively.
It was a disappointing evening for Jimmy Butler, who picked up the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award for his series performances against the Boston Celtics.
This is the second time in three years Butler and Adebayo have led the Heat to the finals, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 Orlando bubble.
