The Denver Nuggets are your 2022-23 NBA Champions!
Only allowing the Miami Heat to get one victory in the 2023 NBA Finals to win the series, 4-1, the Denver Nuggets absolutely rolled to land the Larry O’Brien Trophy — their first in franchise history.
Clinching the championship, the Nuggets took out the Miami Heat, 94-89, in Game 5, with Nikola Jokić leading the way with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Helping out Jokić was Michael Porter Jr. racking up a double-double himself with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Jamal Murray added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
Congratulations to the Denver Nuggets on their 2022-23 NBA title!
YOUR DENVER NUGGETS ARE THE 2023 NBA CHAMPIONS 🏆#bRINGItIn pic.twitter.com/aOHqbUYwOx
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023
This is no heartbreaker for me as a Miami Heat fan, and for a few different reasons.
Coming in, I already knew it was going to be tough to beat Jokić and his grade A supporting cast, so it’s no surprise that they hammered us. Again, congratulations to Denver on their very first championship, I know how cool of a feeling that is with Miami winning No. 1 in 2006.
And with the Heat, I’m proud of my boys. Denver was supposed to beat us, heck, we weren’t even supposed to be in the NBA Finals. It was a magical run and nothing will be able to take that away. (RELATED: United States U16 Basketball Wins FIBA Americas Championship Gold After Completely Annihilating Canada, 118-36)
Yeah, we might not have the trophy, but what we do take into the offseason is an Eastern Conference championship, the tears of Bill Simmons (with this photo being our title banner, or at least it should), and the likelihood that we get Damian Lillard after it’s clear that he wants to be in the 305.
The 305 has all of this hype going on right now with Lionel Messi signing with @InterMiamiCF, and then in the middle of it, we’ve got Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) bluntly saying that he wouldn’t mind being traded to the @MiamiHEAT.
Miami is becoming the new Titletown. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9jLBEfqlx7
— Andrew Powell (@AndrewPowellDC) June 7, 2023
Like I said yesterday, the @MiamiHeat are going to end up with an @NBA championship or @Dame_Lillard … looks like it’s the latter.
Congratulations, @Nuggets, on the title. And we’ll see you next year for an #NBAFinals rematch … with Dame.
It’s all good in #HEATCulture.
— Andrew Powell (@AndrewPowellDC) June 10, 2023
Oh yeah … it’s definitely all good in Heat Culture.