Sakmann News, Entertainment and Sports
SNES Blog Network
The Denver Nuggets completed their sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, May 22. For nine straight days, the Western Conference Champions didn’t play any organized, professional basketball games, […]
The Denver Nuggets completed their sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, May 22. For nine straight days, the Western Conference Champions didn’t play any organized, professional basketball games, as they awaited the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
The Heat could have advanced to the NBA Finals the very next day with a sweep of their own, which would have created an awkward layoff without any NBA basketball, but instead allowed the Celtics to roar all the way back to force Game 7 on Monday, May 29. Miami held on to win that game and the series, flying directly to Denver after the win to begin the 2023 NBA Finals after two days of rest.
Some schools of thought suggested the Nuggets would be rusty, and that the Heat would have an advantage due to their continued synergy on the court over the past week. But both logic and history prevailed, as the better-rested team that didn’t just have to stave off a frantic Celtics team four straight times came out on top.
Jamal Murray scored the first points for the Denver Nuggets in NBA Finals history, hitting a driving layup on the game’s opening possession. Jimmy Butler scored the Heat’s first five points, on a 14-foot jumper and a 25-foot three-pointer, to put Miami up 5-4. Following a dunk by Aaron Gordon (who was very active in the first quarter,) Bam Adebayo got his first bucket to put the Heat up 7-6 with 9:11 to play in the first quarter.
That would be the biggest lead of the night for Miami, and the closest the game would be for the rest of the way. After a pair of successful Nikola Jokic free throws, Murray and Gordon combined to score 15 of the Nuggets next 17 points.
The Heat tried throwing Cody Zeller at Jokic defensively, and the move didn’t pay off. Jokic swiped away a Zeller rebound at the end of the quarter and converted it in to a quick layup to give Denver a 29-20 lead in Ball Arena.
The Nuggets won the second quarter 30-22, opening the period with back-to-back threes from Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to establish their first double digit lead of the night. Adebayo continued pounding away at the Nuggets basket, to moderate success, but he wasn’t getting a ton of help from his teammates. Jokic tore up any defense Miami threw at him, ending many possessions with either a basket, assist, or trip to the free throw line.
Jokic had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists at halftime and didn’t miss any shots from the floor. Jokic became the second player in the last 25 seasons wit a double double by halftime, joining LeBron James (2017.)
More than anything, the Nuggets just ran their game plan at home in Game 1. They didn’t do anything new or creative to overcome any challenges the Heat threw at them. Denver simply executed their game at the level that’s come to be expected at Ball Arena, and Miami couldn’t keep up, offensively or defesnively.
Near the end of the third quarter, a Bruce Brown jump shot off a Jokic assist gave the Nuggets a 24-point lead. Kyle Lowry hit a three-pointer to cut the score to 84-63 heading in to the fourth quarter, where the Heat actually started to put up a fight. Miami cut the lead to as little as 9 points with 2:34 to play, but every time the Heat crept up, the Nuggets had an answer.
The Nuggets scored the next six points after the Heat had cut it to single digits, and went on to win 104-93 to take Game 1 at home.
Nikola Jokic became the second player in NBA history to notch a triple double in his NBA Finals debut (Jason Kidd, 2002.) Jokic recorded 27 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds on 8-of-12 field goal shooting and 10-of-12 free-throw shooting.
Jamal Murray poured in 26 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds on 11-of-22 shooting, playing a game-high 44 minutes for the Nuggets.
Aaron Gordon was super efficient for Denver, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, punishing Miami in the paint. Gordon’s +15 court rating trailed only Michael Porter Jr., who had a +20 court rating despite a subpar shooting night including 2-of-11 three-point shooting.
The Nuggets took 20 free throws and made 16 of them. No player took more than two attempts besides Jokic, who visited the line often to hit 10-of-12 free throws. Miami had just two free throw attempts all night, with Haywood Highsmith going 2-of-2.
Denver shot 40-of-79 from the field (50.6%,) 8-of-27 from three-point range (29.6%.) Miami got up an astounding 96 field gal attempts, but only hit 39 of them (40.6%.) The Heat hit 13-of-39 three-point attempts (33.3%.)
Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 26 points on 13-of-25 shooting, but couldn’t get enough help on the offensive side of the ball. Jimmy Butler had 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting and a gam-worst -17 court rating. Shooting guard Max Strus jacked up 10 shots, including 9 three-pointers, and missed every single one of them in 21 minutes played. Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 star Caleb Martin went 1-of-7 from the field.
The lone bright spot besides Adebayo was Haywood Highsmith, who had 18 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting.
Denver had some dud shooting nights as well (Michael Porter Jr.: 5-16 FG, 2-11 3PT, Jamal Murray 2-7 3PT, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3-8 FG) but found more than enough consistency on offense for the near wire-to-wire win. Miami will probably shoot the ball better and/or visit the foul line more often in future games of this series, potentially closing the gap n the Nggets. But the scary pat is, the Nuggets didn’t even play their best basketball, and their ceiling in this series is certainly higher than what they acheived in Game 1.
At the end of the day, my 2023 NBA Finals Prediction hasn’t changed: after all, the well-rested, top-seeded Denver Nuggets were more than favored to beat the potentially tired, eighth-seeded Miami Heat at home in Game 1. As the adage goes, it’s not really a series until someone wins a road game.
But as the Nuggets held down home court in Game 1 (improving to 9-0 at Ball Arena this postseason and winning their 7th straight playoff game,) they inched within three more victories of their first ever NBA title.
Header Photo Credits: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Be sure to follow Sak Sports Blog on Twitter or on Facebook for more NBA and NFL updates!
Sakmann News, Entertainment and Sports 