The Golden State Warriors’ reign as defending champions is officially over. On Monday night, the league crowned a new champ following Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets.
Despite trailing through the first three quarters of the game, the Nuggets showed in the fourth quarter that they didn’t want a trip back to South Beach for Game 6.
In the fourth quarter, Nikola Jokic tallied 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to help erase the Heat’s small advantage and secure the Nuggets’ first NBA championship in franchise history.
Jokic led the way for the Nuggets, scoring 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field with 15 rebounds and four assists in 42 minutes.
Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray, Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all reached double-figures as the Nuggets put away the Heat in Game 5, 94-89.
Watch highlights from Game 5 via YouTube:
Following the Nuggets historic run to their first NBA title, Jokic was unanimously named NBA Finals MVP. During the NBA Finals, Jokic averaged 30.2 points on 58.3% shooting from the field with 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 41.1 minutes per game. Jokic became the first player in NBA history to lead the entire postseason in points, rebounds and assists.
To get back to the NBA Finals, the Warriors will likely have to go through the Nuggets in the Western Conference.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
