By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets are finally NBA Champions. The Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976. They hadn’t won it all until now. Let’s take a look back at their run.
Before this season, Denver had made it to the Western Conference Finals four times, 1978, 1985, 2009, and 2020. In 1978 they were beaten by Seattle. In 1985, 2009, and 2020, the L.A. Lakers knocked them off. 2009 was probably their best chance. Denver was tied with the Lakers at two games apiece, but L.A. won the next 2 to win the series in 6. They went on to defeat the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. It seemed that was the year that the Nuggets let it slip away because if the Nuggets went to the Finals, most likely they would have beaten the Magic.
Going into this year, something was different about this team. They were finally healthy with the big three of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murry, and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic didn’t have to be the scorer and could dish the ball around to his teammates for them to score. It worked. Jokic averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game, nearly a triple double. Jamal Murray added 20 points per game. Michael Porter Jr. tipped in 17.4 points per game. With those stats, the Nuggets cruised to a record of 53-29, the best in the Western Conference.
In the first-round, they faced Minnesota who is in the Nuggets’ division, the Northwest Division. It didn’t matter. Minnesota was no match for the Nuggets who beat them in 5 games.
Next up for Denver the Phoenix Suns. This might have been Denver’s toughest matchup. Phoenix was loaded with a starting lineup of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Deandre Ayton, and Chris Paul. Off the bench, they had scorers in Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet. If any team was going to knock off the Nuggets, it would be the Suns.
Denver held a 2-0 series lead heading back to Phoenix. Phoenix won both games on home court, including a tough 129-124 victory in game three. Heading home to Denver, the Nuggets had a tied series. In game 5, Denver beat Phoenix 118-102. Game 6, with Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton injured, Phoenix looked tired and Denver ended the series with a 125-100 victory.
Denver was headed to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2020 bubble. Their opponent was the same team that knocked them off, the L.A. Lakers. L.A. didn’t win a game in this series as they were swept in four games. This doesn’t reflect how close the series was. In game one, Denver fought off the Lakers by a score of 132-126. In game 2, Denver held on for a 5-point win. Game 4, it was a close victory, 113-111. The only blowout as game 3 in Los Angeles where Denver won 119-108. Any of those games could have gone to the Lakers and it would have been a different series. Instead, Denver swept them to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Of course, the Miami Heat were the Nuggets’ opponent. The Heat made the postseason during the play-in tournament. In the first-round, the Bucks were supposed to beat them but failed as the Heat took the series in 5. In the second-round, New York took them to 6 games but still failed. Against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat held a 3-0 series lead. Boston came back to win the next 3 to force a game 7. The Heat though drummed Boston in game 7, 103-84 meaning the Nuggets would have home court for the Finals.
In game 1, Denver came out firing and took a 1-0 series lead after a 104-93 triumph. In game 2, it came down to a last shot. Jamal Murry had a chance to send the game into overtime but missed a three at the buzzer. The final score 111-108 in favor of the Heat. The series was 1-1 shifting to Miami. In Miami, Denver took both games, beating the Heat by a combined score of 217-189. Denver was 1 win away from their first ever title.
In game 5, the Heat held a 10-point lead with 7:17 left in the second quarter. Denver found a way to only be down 51-44 going into halftime. The Nuggets outscored the Heat 26-20 in the third quarter. Heading into the final quarter the score stood 71-70 in favor of the Heat.
Denver knew if they could outscore the Heat for one more quarter, they would be champs. On the other hand, Miami wanted to win to send it back to Florida for game 6. Miami even had an 89-88 lead with 1:58 left. Denver though outscored the Heat 6-0 down the stretch as they won 94-89.
This was a long time coming for the Nuggets’ franchise and their fans. There were some hard years for the Nuggets as well which makes this win even more satisfying. 1998 their record was 11-71, the lowest in Nuggets history. The next year they weren’t much better with a 14-36 record in the lockout-shortened season. In 2003, the year the franchise drafted Carmelo Anthony, Denver won 17 games. Nuggets fans and players should enjoy this victory for the rest of the summer. Next year Denver will have a target on its back as they look to go for back-to-back NBA championships.
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