The Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat played this year’s 2022-2023 NBA Finals. This would be a very heated match-up between the two teams as they would have bad blood against each other based on the last games they had faced. The two teams would be respected in their division, with the Nuggets winning the Western Conference finals and the Heat winning the Eastern Conference. Both teams would have two different paths to make it to the finals. The Nuggets would be first in their conference for most of the regular season, taking the top spot and top seed in their respective conference. As for the heat, they would have to battle to make it to the playoffs as they would finish 8th in their respective conference. Going into the playoffs, the Nuggets were the favorites as they would end their regular season with a record of 53-29, while the Heat were not a team that was considered finals competitors. The Miami Heat would finish their season with a record of 44-38.
There would be 16 teams that would make it to the NBA playoffs, with two teams from each conference going to the NBA Finals. The teams that would make it to the playoffs were
Eastern Conference: 1. Milwaukee Bucks 2. Boston Celtics 3. Philadelphia 76ers 4. Cleveland Cavaliers 5. New York Knicks 6. Brooklyn Nets 7. Atalanta Hawks 8. Miami Heat.
Western Conference: 1. Denver Nuggets 2. Memphis Grizzles 3. Sacramento Kings 4. Phoenix Suns 5.LA Clippers 6.Golden State Warriors 7.LA Lakers 8. Minnesota Wolves.
The Western Conference playoffs were smooth sailing for the Denver Nuggets as they would beat Minnesota in the first round with a 4-1 series, where they would then advance to play Phoenix in the second round. They would take that series 4-2 and advance to the Conference finals, where they would play Lebron and the Lakers to win their way to the finals. This would be a lop-sided series, with the Nuggets sweeping the Lakers 4-0, winning the conference finals and grabbing their ticket to the NBA finals.
As for the Eastern Conference playoff, it would play out a little differently. The one seed of the Milwaukee Bucks would lose their series 4-1 to the 8-seed Miami Heat. The Heat would then play the New York Knicks in the second round, winning that series 4-2 and advancing to their conference finals, where they would play the 2-seed Boston Celtics. This series would be a battle, as Boston would go down 3-0 in the first three games. When it looked like the Celtic’s season was over, they would battle their way back to make the series tied 3-3. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. Would the Celtics make history and be first? In game 7 of the eastern conference finals, Miami would show why they are the better team take the win, and advance to the Finals, where they would play the Nuggets.
The Nuggets coming into the NBA finals, would be the heavy favorite team. The first game of the finals would be played on June 1st at the Ball Arena in downtown Denver. Denver would take game one with a score of 104-93. Moving on to game two, it would be played on June 4th in Denver, where the heat would tie the series at 1-1 with the score of game two 111-108 Miami. Going into game three, the Nuggets were looking to bounce back after their loss in game two and take a lead in the series playing in Miami. Game three would be close but ultimately ended up with the Nuggets taking the win with a score of 109-94. Playing in my Miami again for game four, the Heat are looking to tie the series again and not fall to 1-3. The Heat would fall short again to the Nuggets at home with a score of 108-95, making the series favor the Nuggets at 3-1. Heading into game 5 of the finals, the Nuggets are looking at making history, winning their first NBA Championship in Franchise history, and looking to win it all in front of the home crowd. It would be another dog fight to the end as the Denver Nuggets would win 94-89 and become the 2022-2023 NBA Finals Champions. This would be the 47th season for the Nuggets, and their first-ever NBA finals win.
Along with the Championship win came the Finals MVP of Nikola Jockic. Jockic would average 30.2 points, 14 Rebounds, and 7.2 assists pregame, shooting 58%. Not only were Jockic’s per-game numbers an outstanding stat line, but he would also have 600 points, 269 rebounds and 190 assists. That would be first throughout the whole 2023 playoffs. Jockic would also be the lowest-drafted player to have won a Finals MVP, being drafted 41st in the 2014 draft.
Not only was Nikola Jockic’s performance one to remember it was the duo of Jockic and Jamal Murray. The two players would be crucial to the Nugget’s offense and defense. The two stats for the finals are
Nikola Jockic- 30.2 PPG, 58% FG, 14.0 RPG, 7.2 APG
Jamal Murray- 21.4 PPG, 45% FG, 6.2 RPG, 10.0 APG.
The Nuggets would have an outstanding 2022-2023 season to remember having gone 53-29 in the regular season and 16-4 in the playoffs.
