In their first-ever NBA Finals game, the Denver Nuggets emerged victorious with a 104-93 win against the Miami Heat, and Nikola Jokic played a key role with a triple-double performance. Jokic recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists.
During the fourth quarter, Jokic contributed 12 points, with eight of them coming in the final four minutes when the Heat made a strong comeback to reduce a 24-point deficit to just nine. The 28-year-old Serbian extended his own NBA single-year record by achieving his ninth triple-double of the playoffs.
Jokic received support from Jamal Murray, who scored 26 points and provided 10 assists, and Michael Porter Jr., who contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds.
As the top seed from the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets displayed strong shooting, making 59.5 percent of their field goals in the first half and finishing the game with a 50.6 percent shooting accuracy. Additionally, the Nuggets maintained a perfect 9-0 record at home in the playoffs.
Despite Bam Adebayo’s impressive performance for the Miami Heat, scoring 26 points and securing 13 rebounds, Jimmy Butler, the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals, had his lowest scoring output of the playoffs with 13 points.
For the first time in four attempts, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat failed to win the opening game of a series on the road.
