Jokic and Murray led the Nuggets to a comfortable 1-0 lead in the Finals

They looked anything but… rusty Nuggets after ten days of rest between the last Western Finals and the first NBA Finals. Mike Malone’s team beat the Heat very easily 104-93 in Denver and took the first of four steps away from her first championship.

THE Nikola Jokic dismantled every Miami defense with his ninth Finals triple-double of the year, as he had 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. THE Jamal Murray followed with 26 points and 10 assists, while Michael Porter Jr. added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

For Miami, which looked somewhat strained after being rested just three days after the seventh-seeded Eastern Conference final against the Celtics, the Jimmy Butler he stayed far from his good self. He was limited to 13 points on 6/14 shooting, while Caleb Martin didn’t help either with just 3 points on 1/7 shooting. He was rescued Bam Antebayo with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists, with Gabe Vincent adding 19 points (5/10 3-pointers) and 5 assists.

The Nuggets dominated early, closing the first twelve minutes at 29-20 and halftime at 59-42, with Jokic already having 10 assists during this period. The Heat started the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run to cut the lead from 84-63 to 84-74, but never threatened again.

The Game 2 will take place in the early hours of Monday (03:00) again in Denver.

Twelve minutes: 29-20, 59-42, 84-63, 104-93.

See the statistics here

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