2023 NBA Finals

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2023 NBA Finals opened on the 1st of June. The Denver Nuggets led for all but 34 seconds of the first game. Their opponent, the Miami Heat, had barely qualified for the postseason: they lost to the Atlanta Hawks in a play-in game before defeating the Chicago Bulls to earn the 8th seed. Denver was making its first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, 47 seasons in the making.

  Nikola Jokić was voted the Finals MVP unanimously, averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists across five games. The series carried questions that went beyond any single game. What had kept Denver from reaching this moment for so long? How had Miami, a team that finished dead last in the league in points per game, arrived at the championship at all?

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• 2. Miami's Miracle Run

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  Miami's 44-38 regular season record was their worst since missing the playoffs in 2018-19. They were also the only team in the league that year to qualify for the playoffs with a negative point differential. Their first-round opponent was the Milwaukee Bucks, who held the best record in the league and were the betting favorites for the title.

  Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a lower back contusion in Game 1 against Milwaukee that ruled him out for two more games. Tyler Herro broke his hand in that same game, and Victor Oladipo tore his left patellar tendon in Game 3. Miami still built a 2-1 series lead. In Game 4, the Heat trailed by 12 with under six minutes remaining. They went on a 30-13 run, with Jimmy Butler finishing with a career-high 56 points in a 119-114 victory. Butler averaged just 22.9 points per game in the regular season; in the first round he averaged 37.6 on 60% from the field. Miami then overcame a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 5, becoming the sixth 8-seeded team in history to eliminate a 1-seed.

  In the conference semifinals, the Heat defeated the New York Knicks in six games, earning their third conference finals appearance in four seasons. The conference finals against the Boston Celtics stretched to seven games. Miami led 3-0 before Boston won three straight to force a deciding match. The Celtics could not complete that comeback: Miami won Game 7 on the road, 103-84. Butler was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Caleb Martin, whose regular-season average was 9.6 points per game, averaged 19.3 in the conference finals.

  Most of Miami's playoff production came from players who had entered the league undrafted. Martin, Gabe Vincent, Duncan Robinson, and Max Strus provided significant output alongside veterans Kyle Lowry, Cody Zeller, and Kevin Love. Miami acquired Love in February 2023 after the Cleveland Cavaliers bought out his contract. No 8 seed had reached the Finals since the 1999 New York Knicks, and Miami was the first to do so in a full 82-game regular season. Denver had won both regular season meetings between the teams heading into the Finals.

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• 3. Denver's Long Road

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  Denver had spent 56 combined years in the ABA and NBA without a championship when the 2023 Finals arrived. The franchise had reached the ABA's championship round once, in 1975-76, the final season before that league merged with the NBA. Their nearest approach to an NBA title came in 2020. Denver reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2009 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers went on to win that championship.

  Jamal Murray tore his ACL a month before the 2021 playoffs; without him, the Nuggets were swept by the Phoenix Suns in the second round. Michael Porter Jr. underwent season-ending back surgery nine games into the 2021-22 season. Denver still finished 48-34 and earned the sixth seed, led by Nikola Jokić winning his second consecutive regular-season MVP award. They fell to the Golden State Warriors in five first-round games.

  Aaron Gordon arrived from the Orlando Magic during the 2020-21 season. Denver sent Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton, and a 2025 first-round pick in exchange. With Murray and Porter Jr. healthy for 2022-23, Denver reshaped their roster further. They traded Monté Morris and Will Barton to the Washington Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith. Bruce Brown joined as a free agent. The 2022 draft brought in Christian Braun, and Denver traded for Peyton Watson. Denver finished 53-29 and clinched the top seed in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history.

  In the second round of the 2023 playoffs, Denver faced the Phoenix Suns, who had swept them two years earlier. Jokić scored a career-high 53 points in Game 4 of that series. Denver advanced in six games. In the conference finals, they swept the Los Angeles Lakers in four games, the first sweep in franchise history. Jokić was named Western Conference Finals MVP after surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's record for the most triple-doubles in a single postseason.

  Denver entered the Finals as the last of the four original ABA franchises to reach the NBA championship round. The San Antonio Spurs were the only former ABA team to have won an NBA title before them.

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• 4. Five Games in June

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  Jamal Murray contributed 26 points and 10 assists alongside Jokić's triple-double in Game 1 as Denver won 104-93, their largest lead reaching 24 points. Miami shot just 41% from the field and converted only two free throws. That tied the record for fewest free throws made and set the record for fewest attempted in a playoff game. Jimmy Butler, who had averaged 28.5 points per game in the preceding rounds, managed just 13 in his Finals debut. Jokić and Murray were the second pair of teammates to each post 25-plus points and 10-plus assists in the same Finals game. Magic Johnson and James Worthy had been the first, in 1987.

  Gabe Vincent scored 23 points in Game 2, with Butler and Bam Adebayo each adding 21. Miami rallied from a 15-point deficit to win 111-108. It was the first time an 8 seed had won a road game in the NBA Finals. With Caleb Martin sidelined by illness, Kevin Love entered the starting lineup. Max Strus, who had gone 0-for-10 in Game 1, hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Nuggets answered with four 3-pointers in a 70-second span to reclaim a 15-point lead. Jokić scored 41 points but recorded a playoff-low four assists. It was the third time in the playoffs his team had lost when he reached 40 or more. Murray's last-second 3-point attempt that would have tied the game fell short.

  Jokić and Murray became the first pair of teammates in NBA history to each record a 30-point triple-double in the same game. Denver won 109-94 to take a 2-1 series lead. Jokić's line of 32 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists was the first 30-plus-point, 20-plus-rebound, 10-plus-assist game in Finals history. Murray added 34 points on 55% shooting, with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. His three consecutive Finals games with 10-plus assists placed him alongside Magic Johnson and Bob Cousy in the record books. Christian Braun contributed 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. With 29.8 seconds remaining, Udonis Haslem entered the game. At 42 years and 363 days old, he became the oldest player to appear in the NBA Finals.

  Aaron Gordon scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting in Game 4, and Denver won 108-95 to take a 3-1 series lead. Bruce Brown contributed 21 points off the bench, including 11 in the fourth quarter during a 14-4 Denver run that sealed the victory. Murray's 12 assists and zero turnovers placed him alongside Magic Johnson and Robert Reid as the only players with those numbers in a Finals game. Jokić became the first player in postseason history to accumulate at least 500 points, 250 rebounds, and 150 assists in a single run.

  Denver missed 20 of their first 22 three-point attempts in Game 5, and Miami took their first halftime lead of the series. Butler converted just two field goals in the first 43 minutes. He then scored 13 consecutive points to give Miami a one-point lead with two minutes remaining. An offensive rebound and tip-in by Bruce Brown swung the lead back to Denver. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sealed the win with a steal and two free throws. The final score was 94-89. Denver became the first Western Conference champion from outside California or Texas since the 1978-79 Seattle SuperSonics. Udonis Haslem retired from basketball the following month.

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• 5. The Jokić Standard

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  Nikola Jokić had been selected 41st in the 2014 NBA draft, a second-round pick. No player chosen that late had won the Finals MVP before him.

  He averaged 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists across the 2022-23 postseason. Those totals led the entire playoff field in all three categories: 600 points, 269 rebounds, and 190 assists. No player had led a single postseason in all three at once before him.

  Jason Kidd, then with the New Jersey Nets, had been the only player to record a triple-double in an NBA Finals debut. Jokić joined that list in Game 1. In Game 5, Jokić converted 12 of 16 field goal attempts and was the only starter on either team to shoot above 50% from the field.

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• 6. After the Final Whistle

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  Downtown Denver was described as "raucous" immediately following the championship, with fireworks detonating near Coors Field and fans filling McGregor Square. Two shootings occurred in the downtown area that night. On the 2000 block of Market Street, nine people were injured, with a suspect found nearby. On 17th Street and Blake Street, one additional victim self-transported to a hospital. At least 11 people in total were shot, including one suspect. Three remained in critical condition on the morning of the 13th of June.

  Denver scheduled a parade from Union Station to Civic Center Park on the 15th of June, beginning at 10 a.m. A pre-parade rally was set for an hour earlier. The celebration was modeled on the parade Denver had held after the Colorado Avalanche won the 2022 Stanley Cup.

  During the parade, a fire truck transporting Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, and other Nuggets players struck a Denver police officer in the lower leg. Jokić's wife, Natalija, was hit in the face with a beer can while riding on the same vehicle.

  ABC carried the Finals for the 21st consecutive year. Mike Breen called the play-by-play alongside analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, with Lisa Salters on the sideline. Game 1 also received an alternate broadcast on ESPN2, anchored by Stephen A. Smith. The 2023 series marked the trio's record 15th Finals together, and Van Gundy's 17th as a Finals analyst. Van Gundy was among those let go by ESPN on the 30th of June, 2023. Jackson followed on the 31st of July.

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