Author: Michael

For the first time in their 47-year history, the Nuggets are NBA champions. Denver knocked out Miami in a grueling, back-and-forth Game 5 to clinch the title. The Nugs ultimately held on for a 94–89 win after a tense fourth quarter, and Nikola Jokic was unsurprisingly named Finals MVP.
Here are three thoughts on the final game of the season.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray both played at least 41 minutes in Denver’s title-clinching win, contributing a combined 42 points, 24 rebounds and 12 assists.

Texas outfielder Dylan Campbell was having a dream season. It ended badly.

Nikola Jokic won an NBA championship and reacted like he was forced to go to a work party.
Nikola Jokic was the driving force behind the Denver Nuggets winning their first NBA championship in franchise history. The two-time MVP carried the Nuggets to the No. 1 seed in the regular season and helped them tear through the playoffs on the way to the 2023 NBA Finals. The Miami Heat never had a magic solution for solving the Jokic problem towering over the series, and the result was a swift five-game victory for Denver.

Eight years into a career that will one day land him in the Hall of Fame, Nikola Jokić has reached the top of the mountain. Ask him about it and he’ll be nonchalant as ever, but it’s a story like no other.

Without question, the Heat would not have reached the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed without the services of forward Jimmy Butler.
However, a postseason that began with a bang for Butler ended with a whimper, as he struggled for much of Miami’s 94–89 loss to the Nuggets in Game 5 of the Finals.
In a rock fight that saw the Heat shoot just 34.4% from the field and 25.7% from three-point range, Butler made just five of his 18 field goal attempts.

The Jokic brothers are ready to party.
Nikola Jokic’s comically large older brothers are part of the Denver Nuggets’ extended universe. Nemanja and Strahinja Jokic were in the building to support their baby bro on Monday night as the Nuggets clinched their first championship in franchise history with a 94-89 win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Nikola Jokic was named NBA Finals MVP after another masterful performance.
After the final buzzer sounded, Jokic’s large brothers sought out Nuggets head coach Mike Malone and tossed him the air like a beanbag.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has been busy.
On Monday, he announced the hiring of a new baseball coach just a day after Alabama and interim coach Jason Jackson saw their season end. The Crimson Tide lost to No. 1 Wake Forest in the best-of-three Super Regional in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 22-5 on Sunday, after falling 5-4 on Saturday.
Byrne is going young. He hired Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn, who is 35 and a rising star in the coaching ranks. Byrne didn’t just do this over the weekend. It was likely finalized days or weeks ago.

Time to party in Mile High! The Denver Nuggets are atop the NBA: winning the 2022-23 championship.
And with a dominant postseason performance, everyone asks: is this the beginning of Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets’ reign?

Jokic went up to every Heat player before celebrating winning the #NBAFinals
Sportsmanship at its finest pic.twitter.

A masterful season for Nikola Jokić ended in triumphant celebration Monday night as the Nuggets toppled the Heat, 94–89, in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first-ever championship.
After notching his latest standout effort of the postseason, Jokić added another accolade to his resumé as the two-time MVP was named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. The star center finished Denver’s closeout win with a game-high 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field with 16 rebounds and four assists.

The 2023 NBA Finals MVP 🃏
(via @NBATV)pic.

The prospect of returning to Miami for a Game 6 seemed increasingly realistic after the Heat jumped out to a seven-point halftime lead during Monday’s Game 5. Then, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets turned in a second-half performance that served as the perfect capper for their nearly-flawless postseason performance.
Jokic led the way with 28 points and 16 rebounds as the Nuggets stormed back to score a 94–89 victory, clinching a 4–1 series win and the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship. The two-time MVP played 42 minutes, adding four assists on 12-for-16 shooting from the field.