Murray joins historic list
Jamal Murray had one of the best Finals performances of any player in NBA history.
The star point guard was just the fourth player to ever average 20 points and 10 assists per game in the Finals.
The other three players were:
- Magic Johnson (1987, 1988)
- Michael Jordan (1991)
- LeBron James (2017, 2018)
Jokić and Murray make history
Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray are the first pair of teammates in NBA playoff history to each average 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists per game for an entire postseason.
The two looked unstoppable together and put on a show when working the pick and roll.
This was a historic run, for not only these two, but for the entire city, that people won't forget anytime soon.
First in franchise history
The Denver Nuggets finally won their first NBA championship after 47 years.
The Nuggets were added to the NBA from the ABA expansion and have had players like Alex English, David Thompson, Carmelo Anthony, and more star for the team.
At this point, it's official Nikola Jokić is the greatest player to ever don a Nuggets jersey.
Jokić and Murray will be a tandem that teams will have to worry about for years, but as we've seen throughout recent years, the NBA is very unpredictable.
Sign of the times
Denver's win means we've now had five different NBA champions in the last five years.
It shows how hard to call this league is and it's also rare for the NBA given the dynasties we've seen in recent years such as the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
2023 - Denver Nuggets
2022 - Golden State Warriors
2021 - Milwaukee Bucks
2020 - Los Angeles Lakers
2019 - Toronto Raptors
Gracious in defeat
Heat coach Eric Spoelstra was a class act after the game.
He said: "There's no regrets on our end. There's just sometimes where you get beat, and Denver was the better basketball team in this series. That's about as hard - I don't know how long it would take me to go through the autopsy of this final game, but I would say that it will probably rank as our hardest, competitive, most active defensive game of the season, and it still fell short.
"You have to tip your hat to them. I said it, but they are one hell of a basketball team. They play the right way, they compete, they are well-coached and they have a strong culture. So for this season, they deserve this."
Jokic the best?
Former Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas thinks that the Serbian might just be the best player on the planet right now.
Here's what he had to say to ESPN after the game.
"It puts him in the legendary category for what he's done statistically in the Finals. I don't know if there's anyone who's ever had a statistical run in the NBA Finals as a center as he had in these categories.
"Hey, right now, you're the best player and the best team. And it may not be for (the next) five years.
"But when you're talking about like now, the best player now is him. And the best team is the Denver Nuggets.
"When you're a champion, that's all that matters. If you can say, 'I'm the best in the world,' even it's only for a day, or even if it's for a year, what a remarkable moment to have for yourself. And then be stamped. And everyone acknowledges that. No greater feeling."
