Denver shakes Miami and takes advantage in the Final

The Denver Nuggets signed a dream premiere Thursday in the first Finals in their history, authoritatively subduing the Miami Heat to take advantage of the battle for the NBA ring (104-93, 1-0 in the series).

In a very balanced and admirable performance from the entire team, the Nuggets, who won by 24 points in the third quarter, were led by an exceptional Nikola Jokic with a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

The second game of this Final will also be played in Denver on Sunday.

The Ball Arena in Denver was alive with electricity and thrilling anticipation the first game in a Finals of these unprecedented Nuggets at this point in a season.

Far from getting carried away with emotion or displaying the thrill of a rookie, the Nuggets offered a recital – colored only by relaxing too much in the final quarter – and they gave no option to some Heat presenting themselves with very fair powers and just two days of rest after winning the memorable and grueling East Final against the Boston Celtics in seven games.

Denver, which had nine days off to prepare for the Finals after beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0, had five players over 10 points.

The figure was Jokic with an extremely intelligent performance as the center delivered a masterclass on how to control a game without practically looking at the basket (8 out of 12 shooting, 10 out of 12 from the personal line).

Jokic also joined Jason Kidd (2002) as the only player to record a triple-double in his finals debut.

Also fueled by stellar defense in the first three quarters, the Nuggets had 26 points and 10 assists from Jamal Murray, 16 points from Aaron Gordon, and 14 points and 13 rebounds from Michael Porter Jr.

Bam Adebayo (26 points and 13 rebounds) was the highlight of the Heat with a grizzled Jimmy Butler (13 points with 6 for 14, 7 rebounds and 7 assists).

In addition, the famous non-lined unit crashed in Denver, so much so that Caleb Martin and Max Strus joined hands in a horrific 1-for-17 shootout and 3-point shootout between them.

Miami moved to caste in the last quarter to make up for the result, but they’re going to have to improve a lot to get a few Nuggets in trouble that have home court in their favor and haven’t lost in Denver in this’ playoffs’.

GORDON SCREAMS, JOKIC DOMINATES

There was a lot of talk in the preview about how Miami could stop Jokic, but it was Gordon who revealed the Heat’s notable deficiencies on defense at the start.

With muscles, enormous power and relentless attacking towards the hoop, Gordon became a giant in the paint with 12 points in a first quarter in which the ‘little’ Gabe Vincent, Strus and Martin could not resist.

Jokic started with a first quarter that was the trademark of the Serbian genius: he shot only once at the basket -and he scored-, he reached 4 points on free throws and nevertheless managed to dominate the game with no less than 6 assists.

Butler and Adebayo started well with 15 points between them, but the Nuggets, with 20 goals in the area, cut a gap without wasting time (29-20).

Murray and Porter Jr.’s triples, against the Miami area, kept the locals standing in Jokic’s ever-delicate minutes on the bench.

Back on the field, the center punished both against one of the Heat, always finding the free agent and extending the advantage of some highly solvent Nuggets and controlling the game (50-37 with 3.21 before the break).

Adebayo gave his face to the visitors with 16 points in the first half.

But without Butler at his best (7 points), with a serious problem from the triple (4 of 17) and no news of unrecognizable Strus and Martin (0 points between them with an embarrassing 0 of 12 shooting) the Heat began to lose ground.

Thus, without having to shift into fifth gear or force the machine, the Nuggets left with a +17 at halftime (59-42) at the hands of a sensational Murray with 18 points, a tremendous 59.5% on shotfield and four players over 10 points.

One of them was Jokic, who silently planted himself in a double-double in the first half with 10 points (3 of 3 on shots, 4 of 4 on free throws) and a whopping 10 assists.

An 0-7 start briefly revived the Heat, but the Nuggets, without a hint of nerve or doubt in their Finals debut, responded without hesitation.

Murray and Jokic continued to do their thing as a deadly duo, Porter Jr. and Caldwell-Pope pierced Miami’s soul from the triple and Bruce Brown joined the side with a basket to break the 20-point barrier (81-60 with 2.08 on the clock).

With very few arguments to orchestrate an epic comeback, the Heat reached the fourth quarter with their tongues hanging out (84-63) and yet they proudly sealed a surprise 0-11 game in less than three minutes.

Seeing themselves with ‘only’ +10 roused the Nuggets from their relaxation, who got caught up in Erik Spoelstra’s zone and who, despite a very lackluster last quarter (20-30), took the win with Jokic executing in the second quarter . minutes.