Basketball: Denver win NBA finals opener

Denver Nuggets Forward Nikola Jokic.
Photo: Photosport

The Denver Nuggets have beaten the Miami Heat 104-93 in game one of the NBA finals.

Well aware of their opponent’s penchant for fast starts, the Denver Nuggets treated their first-ever NBA Finals game as if everything were on the line.

Even with the Game 1 urgency, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic never panicked, finishing off another triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists as the Nuggets rolled to victory.

“Right now, the most important thing is to win a game, and I’m trying to win a game in any possible way,” Jokic said on the ABC broadcast.

“I don’t need to shoot and I know I don’t need to score to affect the game, and I think I did a good job today. Everybody contributed.”

Nikola Jokic in action against the LA Lakers in the Western Conference playoffs.
Photo: AFP

Denver, the Western Conference’s top seed, shot 59.5 percent from the field in the first half and 50.6 percent for the game while improving to 9-0 at home in the playoffs.

The Nuggets were sharp, even after a nine-day wait between their conference-final sweep and the start of the NBA Finals.

Bam Adebayo amassed 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, but Jimmy Butler was held to 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

The No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference failed to win the opener of a series on the road for the first time in four tries.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Monday.

-Reuters