The NBA Finals are officially underway, with the Denver Nuggets making easy work of the visiting Miami Heat in Game 1 on Thursday in the Mile High City.
Despite many expecting the Nuggets to be a little rusty after waiting quite some time to get their Finals opponent, Nikola Jokic and company didn’t miss a beat in Game 1, as they dominated Jimmy Butler’s squad from start to finish.
It comes as no surprise that Jokic had a solid performance in Game 1, as he made NBA history by becoming the first Western Conference center in the league to dish out more than 10 assists in a Finals game, according to StatMuse.
Fun Fact: Nikola Jokic is the first center to record 10+ assists in a Finals game in over 45 years.
And he’s the first Western Conference center in NBA history with 10+ assists in a Finals game. pic.twitter.com/2cvvjZCPGl
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 2, 2023
As usual, Jokic filled up the stat sheet on Thursday night on the Nuggets’ home floor at Ball Arena in Denver, as he finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, leading to an 11-point victory over the Heat.
The Nuggets were firing on all cylinders in Game 1, as Jokic and company made it look easy to dispatch a scrappy and resilient Heat squad led by two-time NBA champion head coach Erik Spoelstra.
If Denver continues to play this way, it may not matter what kind of performance Miami has, as this style of basketball seems unbeatable at this point in the NBA playoffs, with the Nuggets showing few flaws.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Heat try to bounce back in Game 2, with Spoelstra and company desperately wanting a win before heading to Miami for Game 3 and Game 4.
Butler, who struggled in Game 1, will need to do much better than scoring 13 points, even though he grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists.
NEXT: Stats Show How Historic Nikola Jokic's Playoff Run Has Been
