2023 NBA Finals In Review: How The Nuggets Made History

While it seems like most wish the NBA Finals went further than 5 games, that is all it took. Let's take a look back at the numbers and see what exactly went down as the Nugggets cruised to their first ever NBA Championship. 

Quick series

13 days is all it took for the Denver Nuggets to beat the Miami Heat to become the 2023 NBA Champions. They beat the Heat 94-89 in Game 5 to win their first-ever championship, ending a 47-year wait. 

Register today for betJACK: Ohio's Sportsbook to receive 100% bet protection on your first wager, up to $500!

From June 1 to June 12, the Nuggets’ final score on games they won was at least six over the Heat. On average, the Nuggets won by an 11-point average across all of their Finals' appearances. 

The same can’t be said for the Heat, who only won a single game in the entire series. The Heat nearly rivaled the Nuggets FG% and outscored them on three’s by almost 10%. Both team’s FT% were comparable.

During their final game, the Heat had an over 10% less FG% than the Nuggets but scored four more three-point shots. They also had less turnovers and more steals but has a third less points in the paint than the Nuggets. 

Still a solid season for the Heat

Even though they lost in the Finals, it’s commendable that an eighth seed team knocked first (Bucks), second (Celtics) and fifth (Knicks) seed teams out of the competition and ended up making it to the Finals.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokić scored 28 points and 16 rebounds in his last 2023 Finals appearance. After the win, when asked about the celebration parade in Denver and if he was looking forward to it, Jokić asked when the parade was. When he was told, he responded “No. I need to go home.” 

Jokić also humbly said that while winning an NBA Championship is a great accomplishment, it isn’t the most important thing in the world. 

"It’s an amazing feeling but like I said before, it’s not everything in [the] world… OK, I won it – not I, we won it – but I think it’s not the most important thing in the world, still. There’s [a] bunch of things that I like to do," he said.

It sounds like Jokic is ready to go home alongside the rest of his teammates, as the Nuggets will celebrate their first ever NBA title all summer long.