2023-06-13 12:40:00
“It’s good. The job is done and we can go home now,” said the Serb with his own detachment, even in the greatest moment of his career.
“Miami is a great team, brave, extraordinary, who I respect a lot. It was an incredible effort from our team. It was a lousy game. We didn’t manage to score a lot of shots, but to In the end, we understood how to defend”, he then analyzed.
Indeed, that this bitter fifth game was complicated at home, for the Colorado franchise, long struggling at long distance (5/23) and free throws (13/23), bothered by the relentless defense of Miami and, probably, hands a little shaky at the time of concluding the series (4-1).
Especially since Jimmy Butler donned his superhero cape in the last quarter, scoring 13 of his 21 points in three minutes. But he ended up cracking, with a bad pass and a missed shot in the dying seconds.
And all Denver to finally exult, but not Jokic, first left to shake hands with the losers and phlegmatic until the end, even to receive his MVP trophy with a half-smile with his daughter in his arms, while his two older brothers were overwhelmed with tears.
Nikola Jokic MVP
The Serb was once more giant, in this match the least successful collectively of his team (28 pts, 16 rebounds), leading it to a deserved coronation, for his first final in 47 seasons of presence in the league.
Ultra-dominant, endowed with an exceptional basketball IQ, altruistic as possible, he sparkled throughout this final. Already elected double MVP of the regular season in 2021 and 2022, he can no longer be challenged for the unofficial status of the best player on the planet, just like his compatriot Novak Djokovic, winner of a 23rd Grand Prix on Sunday. Slam record at Roland-Garros. Jokic is also the first Finals MVP pivot since Shaquille O’Neal in 2002.
The winning bet of continuity for the Nuggets
This achievement for the Nuggets crowns an almost perfect season, finished in first place in the Western Conference, prior to the play-offs where their domination was undeniable.
It also comes to reward the continuity bet made by its leaders, first and foremost the owner of the franchise Stan Kroenke, follower of patience in a world of emergency, and already champion in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams and in the NHL. with the Colorado Avalanche.
Because it’s been eight years since coach Michael Malone began to pave the way to success, with in this team, where the collective prevails over the individual, a leader who embodies this value better than anyone else: Nikola Jokic arrived in same time as him in Colorado following being drafted the previous year in 41st position, to general indifference.
Missed once more for Miami
In this decisive match, for which Malone had urged his players to approach him with the bit to the tooth as if it was they who were down 3-1, it was the Heat who first showed their fangs. Apart from Michael Porter Jr (16 pts, 14 rbds), the gamberge won Jamal Murray (14 pts, 8 assists) and Aaron Gordon (4 pts), yet so strong in this final. So Denver shook until the end, but had to save their defense as Jokic pointed out.
Because Bam Adebayo, untenable with his 18 points in the first period, might only add 2 followingwards (12 rebounds). Proof that not even much was wrong, the Nuggets were simply too strong for the Heat, unpredictably until the final, following passing ric-rac by the second qualifying play-off game for the play-offs.
Successively, Miami thwarted the forecasts, dismissing the Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reborn Knicks and the Celtics finalists last year. But the mountain at the foot of the Rockies, nicknamed “Mile High City” for its 1609 m altitude, was too high for the Floridians, who dreamed of writing history by becoming the first seeded team N. 8 NBA champion.
Instead, crowned in 2006, 2012 and 2013, they can only deplore this fourth failure in seven opportunities on the last step following 2011, 2014 and 2020.
What might be more normal than a gold rush finding its pioneers in Colorado…
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