Denver Nuggets claimed an emphatic 104-93 victory over Miami Heat in the first game of the 2023 NBA Finals.

Basketball NBA

Denver Nuggets claimed an emphatic 104-93 victory over Miami Heat in the first game of the 2023 NBA Finals.

The Denver Nuggets began their first NBA Finals campaign with a dominant 104-93 victory over the Miami Heat, a win propelled by yet another Nikola Jokic triple-double.

Nikola Jokic, a two-time NBA MVP, scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and 14 assists to lead the Nuggets, who will try to take a 2-0 lead in the series when they host Game 2 on Sunday.

Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Michael Porter Jr. scored 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as 24.

Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which shot 41% for the game — 33% from 3-point range. Gabe Vincent scored 19, Haywood Highsmith had 18 and Jimmy Butler added 13 for the Heat.

Jokic became the second player in the last 25 years — LeBron James was the other, in 2017 — to have 10 assists by halftime of a finals game.