Jokić, Nuggets save their best for fourth quarter, with it become NBA Champions

DENVER — Miami had owned the fourth quarter throughout the NBA Finals, they were +20 in the final frame through four games. The Heat were clutch on the NBA’s biggest stage as they had been all playoffs.

Yet with the Larry O’Brien trophy waiting in the wings — and Jimmy Butler willing his team as best he could with 13 straight points to keep the Heat right there — the Nuggets were the better clutch team Monday night.

The Denver Nuggets got 10 in the fourth from Nikola Jokić and won the fourth quarter by six and with it, the first championship in the franchise’s 47-year history.

The Denver Nuggets are NBA champions, taking Game 5 94-89, and the NBA Finals 4-1.

Nikola Jokić was the unanimous Finals MVP. He earned it by averaging 30.2 points and 14 rebounds a game, but more importantly, he earned that with his defense all series. What was supposed to be the weak spot in his game, his rim protection was the difference all series long — he had Heat players on the drive pulling up or double-thinking and double-clutching what they wanted to do.

Nikola Jokic is presented with the Bill Russell Trophy as the 2022-23 #NBAFinals MVP