The Denver Nuggets signed a dream premiere on Thursday in the first Finals in their history and authoritatively subdued the Miami Heat to take advantage in the fight for the NBA ring (104-93, 1-0 in the series). In a very balanced and admirable performance by the entire team, the Nuggets, who were winning by 24 points in the third quarter, were guided by an exceptional Nikola Jokic with a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. The second match of these Finals will be played on Sunday also in Denver.
The Ball Arena in Denver lived with electricity and exciting expectation the first game in a Final of these unprecedented Nuggets at this point in a season. Far from being carried away by emotions or showing the tension of a rookie, the Nuggets offered a recital -only stained by relaxing too much in the last quarter- and they gave no option to some Heat who presented themselves with very fair forces and only two days 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 sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0, had five players over 10 points. The figure was Jokic with an extremely intelligent performance, as the center gave a master class on how to control a game without practically looking at the basket (8 of 12 shooting, 10 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 great 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 gray Jimmy Butler (13 points with 6 of 14, 7 rebounds and 7 assists). Plus, the famous undrafted unit crashed in Denver, so much so that Caleb Martin and Max Strus joined hands on a gruesome 1-of-17 shooting from the field and 3 points between them.
Miami pulled caste in the last quarter to make up the result but they will have to improve a lot to get some Nuggets in trouble who have the home court factor in their favor and who have not yet lost in Denver in these 'playoffs'.
There had been a lot of talk in the preview about how Miami was going to manage to stop Jokic, but it was Gordon who revealed the Heat's notable shortcomings in defense at the start. With muscle, enormous power and relentlessly attacking towards the hoop, Gordon became a giant in the paint with 12 points in a first quarter in which the 'small' Gabe Vincent, Strus and Martin could not put up any resistance.
Jokic began with a first quarter that was the trademark of the Serbian genius: he only shot once to the basket -and he scored it-, he reached 4 points with free throws and, nevertheless, he was able to dominate the game by distributing no less than 6 assists.
Butler and Adebayo started well with 15 points between them, but the Nuggets, with 20 goals in the area, opened up a gap without wasting time (29-20). Murray and Porter Jr.'s triples, against the Miami area, sustained the locals in the always delicate minutes on Jokic's bench.
Back on the field, the center punished both against one of the Heat, always finding the free player and stretching the advantage of some very solvent Nuggets and with the duel under control (50-37 with 3.21 for the intermission).
Adebayo gave his face to the visitors with 16 points in the first half. But without Butler at his best level (7 points), with a serious problem from the triple (4 of 17) and without news of unrecognizable Strus and Martin (0 points between them with a painful 0 of 12 shooting) the Heat began to lose ground.
Thus, the Nuggets, without having to put fifth gear or force the machine, left with a 17 at halftime (59-42) at the hands of a sensational Murray with 18 points, a great 59.5% in field goals and four players above 10 points.
One of them was Jokic, who, without making a sound, 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 magnificent 10 assists.
An 0-7 start briefly revived the Heat, but the Nuggets, without a hint of nerves or doubts in their Finals debut, responded without hesitation.
Murray and Jokic continued to do their thing as a lethal duo, Porter Jr. and Caldwell-Pope pierced the soul of Miami from the triple and Bruce Brown joined the party with a basket to overcome 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 even so they took pride to seal a surprising 0-11 game in less than three minutes.
Seeing himself with 'only' 10 woke the Nuggets from their relaxation, who became entangled in the area of Erik Spoelstra and who, despite a very lackluster last quarter (20-30), closed the victory using Jokic as executor in the last minutes.
