Nuggets close out Heat in thriller to clinch NBA title

DENVER  -- The Denver Nuggets sealed their first title in franchise history on Monday, defeating the Miami Heat 94-89 to end a 47-season wait for a maiden NBA championship.

Nikola Jokic scored 28 points with 16 rebounds as the Nuggets won the best-of-seven NBA Finals 4-1 to bring the Mile High City an NBA crown as a sellout crowd roared in delight and pondered what more the young squad could achieve.

"I've got news for everybody out there. We're not satisfied with one," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said afterwards. "We want more."

The championship filled the final gap in the impressive resume of Serbian star Jokic, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and five-time All-Star center in his eighth NBA campaign.

Two days after countryman Novak Djokovic won the French Open for his record 23rd Grand Slam tennis crown, Jokic was named the NBA Finals MVP.

"For us he's the best ever of course," Jokic said of Djokovic. "Now we have our NBA championship. It's a really good moment to be a Serbian."

Jokic delivered on a night when the team struggled with early shooting futility but blanked Miami for more than five minutes of the fourth quarter.

"It was amazing effort by the team," Jokic said. "It was an ugly game. We couldn't make shots. But at the end we figured it out, how to defend and we scored 90 points. That's why we won. I'm just happy we won the game.

"It's good. The job is done and we can go home now."

Michael Porter Jr. added 16 points and 13 rebounds and Jamal Murray added 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets.

"We had the belief from the get-go," Murray said. "It's just great to see it through."

"To do it with this group of guys, nothing could feel better than this," Porter added.

Jimmy Butler led Miami with 21 points while Bam Adebayo added 20 and 12 rebounds.

Denver was the playoff top seed in the Western Conference while the eighth-seeded Heat, who had to win a play-in game just to reach the playoffs, lost in the finals for the third time in 10 seasons.

"One hell of a basketball team that we couldn't really find enough solutions to be able to get us over the top," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

With their seasons on the line, players brought intensity and physical defending over the final minutes to create an electric atmosphere inside Ball Arena.

The Nuggets, down by as many as 10 points in the first half, pulled within 51-44 at half-time despite going 1-for-15 from 3-point range, the worst-ever NBA Finals shooting half from beyond the arc.

A Murray jumper gave Denver an 81-76 lead with 6:43 remaining while the Heat began the fourth quarter hitting only 2-for-14 from the floor and going scoreless for more than five minutes.

Butler, who had struggled all night, sank back-to-back 3-pointers and made three free throws after a controversial foul on Denver's Aaron Gordon was upheld on video review.

Butler and Jokic traded hoops and Butler followed with two free throws to give Miami an 89-88 lead.

Bruce Brown answered with a rebound basket to put Denver ahead 90-89.

"Those last three or four minutes felt like a scene out of a movie," Spoelstra said. "Two teams in the center of the ring throwing haymaker after haymaker.

"It will probably rank as our hardest, competitive, most active defensive game of the season, and it still fell short."

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stole a pass by Butler and sank two clutch free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give Denver a 92-89 edge.

"For me it was all about defense," Caldwell-Pope said. "We've got to get stops. Defense was going to win us a championship. I always told them that."

Butler missed a 3-pointer, Brown grabbed a rebound for Denver and then made two free throws to seal the victory with 14 seconds remaining.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Celtics, trying to get past internal strife, face sizzling Heat

The Miami Heat are quickly making believers across the NBA after sprinting out to an impressive 6-1 start.

The Heat aim for their sixth straight win on Thursday against the visiting Boston Celtics, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a 92-79 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

While the Celtics are searching for an identity under new coach Ime Udoka, the Heat boast a stifling defense that has many predicting a deep postseason run.

"I would consider them the best team in the league right now," Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Miami. "They're playing at a very, very high level. They've been together and they know what it takes to win."

Four Miami players scored at least 22 points -- a first in franchise history -- on Tuesday in a 125-110 win over the Mavericks, who trailed 20-9 after seven minutes.

Tyler Herro scored 25 points off the bench in the victory while Jimmy Butler added 23 points. Kyle Lowry had 22 points and Bam Adebayo contributed 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Miami has prevailed by double digits in each of its six wins while holding opponents to 98.9 points per game, the lowest average in the NBA.

Butler is averaging 25 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists to lead the Heat, whose 6-1 start is their best since the 2012-13 championship season.

Miami's defense poses a tough matchup for Boston, which blew a 19-point lead Monday in a 128-114 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

The Celtics submitted an improved effort against Orlando on Wednesday. Jaylen Brown scored 28 points, Jayson Tatum added 14 and Al Horford tallied 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Brown made 10 of 17 shots and had his fifth 20-point game of the season.

After Monday's loss, guard Marcus Smart said Brown and Tatum need to pass the ball more in order for the team's offense to flourish.

"Every team knows we are trying to go to Jayson and Jaylen, and every team is programmed and studies to stop Jayson and Jaylen," Smart said. "I think everybody's scouting report is to make those guys try to pass the ball. They don't want to pass the ball, and that's something that they're going to learn."

ESPN reported that the Celtics held a players-only meeting prior to Wednesday's contest, but Udoka downplayed any internal tension.

"Some of the things he said are things we talk about every day," the first-year coach said. "I've preached that from day one. Jayson and Jaylen are guys growing in that area, being playmakers, so it's stuff we're constantly showing on film, talking about, so it's nothing new as far as what we have shown and done, and they've done a great job in those areas."

Udoka added, "Marcus, Jayson and Jaylen have a long history together, and every team I've ever been on has had moments when they butt heads. It's nothing we haven't talked about."

Boston, which has lost its past two meetings against Miami, continues to tinker with a rotation that includes guard Dennis Schroder. The veteran is averaging 13.3 points and six assists off the bench.

-reuters-

NBA: Cavs reportedly open to trading Love

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is on the trading block, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.

One of the possible destinations is the Los Angeles Lakers, where Love would reunite with LeBron James, who agreed to a four-year deal with the Lakers this week. 

The Portland Trail Blazers are also a possible trade destination for Love, according to a report from veteran NBA journalist Chris Sheridan.

Love, a five-time All-Star, has two seasons remaining on his deal with the Cavaliers and is owed around $49.7 million. The second year is a player option.

The 30-year-old forward averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 59 regular-season games last season.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks open up NBA Summer League play on Friday, but No. 3 overall pick Luka Doncic won't be in uniform.

Doncic hasn't yet reached a buyout agreement with Real Madrid, his EuroLeague team, ahead of Dallas' first summer league game.

"He needs to have his buyout completed with Real Madrid, he needs a FIBA letter of clearance, he needs a physical and he needs to sign a contract," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters in Dallas on Thursday before the Mavericks headed to Las Vegas. 

"We're getting close to getting those things done. But we're not there yet."

The Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, agreed to terms on a one-year contract with forward Nemanja Bjelica, according to multiple reports. 

The Sixers will reportedly use their $4.4 million room mid-level exception to sign Bjelica.

Bjelica, 30, has spent all three of his seasons in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves after a handful of years playing overseas in Spain (2010-13) and Turkey (2013-15), including winning the EuroLeague MVP in 2015.

He averaged NBA career highs of 6.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 20.5 minutes in 67 games (21 starts) last season while shooting 41.5 percent from 3-point range.

source: news.abs-cbn.com