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S P O R T S
Denver Nuggets defeat Miami Heat for franchise's
rst NBA title
U P DAT E D O N : J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 2 3 / 1 1 : 3 4 P M / A P
Nikola Jokic guided Denver to its rst NBA title in team history Monday night,
as the Nuggets overcame dreadful shooting and a late urry from Miami's
Jimmy Butler to squeeze past the Heat for a frantic 94 89 victory in Game 5.
Jokic had 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Nuggets and earned NBA Finals
MVP honors — a trophy certainly more meaningful to him than the two overall
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2. MVPs he won in 2021 and '22.
He bailed out the Nuggets, going 12 for 16 from the oor on a night when none
of his teammates could nd the basket. Denver missed 20 of its rst 22 3-point
attempts and seven of its rst 13 free throws, yet somehow gured out how to
close out the series on its home oor.
Butler scored eight straight points to help the Heat take an 87 86 lead with 2:45
left after trailing by seven. He made two more free throws with 1:58 remaining
to help Miami regain a one-point lead. Then, Bruce Brown got an o ensive
rebound and tip-in to give the Nuggets the lead for good.
Trailing by three with 15 seconds left, Butler jacked up a 3, but missed it.
Brown made two free throws to put the game out of reach and clinch the title
for Denver.
Butler nished with 21 points.
This was an ugly, frenetic a air, but the aftermath was something the Nuggets
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets drives the lane against Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the
fourth quarter in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena on June 12, 2023 in Denver, Colorado.
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3. and their fans could all agree was beautiful. Denver is the home of the Larry
O'Brien Trophy for the rst time in the franchise's 47 years in the league.
"It was ugly and we couldn't make shots, but at the end we gured it out," Jokic
said. "I am just happy we won the game."
The Heat were, as coach Erik Spoelstra promised, a gritty, tenacious bunch.
But their shooting wasn't great, either. Bam Adebayo had 20 for the Heat, but
Miami shot 34% from the oor and 25% from 3. Until Butler went o , he was 2
for 13 for eight points.
Jimmy Butler (22) of the Miami Heat works against Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets in the rst quarter
during Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, June 12, 2023.

4. The Heat, who survived a loss in the play-in tournament and became only the
second No. 8 seed to make it to the nals, insisted they weren't into
consolation prizes.
They played like they expected to win, and for a while during this game, which
was settled more on the ground than in the air, it looked like they would.
The Nuggets, who came in shooting 37.6% from 3 for the series, shot 18% in this
one. They committed 14 turnovers. They only went 13 for 23 from the line,
though Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were 4 for 4 at the end while
Denver was salting away the win.
With 2:51 left in the rst quarter, Jokic got his second foul and joined Aaron
Gordon on the bench.
The Nuggets were tentative on both sides of the court for the rest of the half.
Somehow, after shooting 6.7% from 3 — the worst rst half in the history of the
nals (10-shot minimum) they only trailed by seven.
In: NBA Finals Denver Nuggets NBA Miami Heat
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First published on June 12, 2023 / 11:02 PM
© 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.