Nikola Jokic finished off another triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists as the Denver Nuggets registered to a 104-93 victory against the visiting Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals
Friday 2 June 2023 10:00, UK
Nikola Jokic never panicked in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, finishing off another triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 104-93 victory against the visiting Miami Heat on Thursday night.
"Right now, the most important thing is to win a game, and I'm trying to win a game in any possible way," Jokic told ABC. "I don't need to shoot and I know I don't need to score to affect the game, and I think I did a good job today. Everybody contributed."
He was right about that. With Jamal Murray chipping in with 26 points and 10 assists, and Michael Porter Jr notching 14 points and 13 rebounds, 'the Joker' barely had to flex his muscles.
Instead, he extended his NBA single-year record with his ninth triple-double of the playoffs, nine days since he and his team-mates swept past the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference finals.
For the Heat, the lack of rotation was glaring as only Bam Adebayo surpassed the 20-point mark, while Jimmy Butler was held to 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting.
"They were in a pretty good rhythm, especially in that first half," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Nuggets.
"Our disposition, the efforts, the resolve in the second half was much better. But [when] you get to this level, it has to be complete games of that disposition".
Jokic was content to occupy the role of playmaker in the first quarter, not taking his first shot from the field until 3.3 seconds remained. He made the close-range attempt as Denver took a 29-20 lead at the end of the opening period.
The Nuggets opened their first double-digit lead at 32-22 on a 3-pointer by Murray with 10:31 remaining in the first half, and the hosts led 59-42 at half-time.
Denver grabbed its first lead of at least 20 points at 81-60 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter, on a pull-up jumper from Bruce Brown. The Nuggets went into the fourth quarter with an 84-63 advantage.
The Heat opened the final period on an 11-0 run to get within 84-74 with 9:29 remaining, but the Nuggets seized control again, taking a 90-74 lead with 7:16 left on a layup from Jokic, and closed out the victory from there.
"I definitely think [Denver] came out with a lot of physicality, and we have to be able to match that," said Butler, who insisted he was not affected by the effort expended to win the Eastern Conference finals in seven games.
"They did their job on their home floor. You have to say that. But we will be ready, we will adjust and do things differently."
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series takes place in Denver on Sunday. You can watch it unfold live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event from 1am, or for free on Sky Sports' YouTube channel.
