DENVER — Nikola Jokić makes a lot more sense if contextualized as a big, killer boxer than a graceful, skilled basketball player — exerting force on every possession, making sure he sheds his weight, and so do you.
It would be easy to believe Jokić played a passive game as he only took a handful of shots in the first three quarters, but he, like his teammates, played with a focus and steely approach that no one could match in these playoffs. .
Jokić’s debut in the Finals was a success with another triple-double, 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, yet another step towards ultimate validation.
The Denver Nuggets roughed up the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals with a 104-93 win that didn’t seem as close as the gap suggested, with the Nuggets showing very little rust or nervousness on the biggest of the scenes. .
Even though the Heat are an eighth seed and the Nuggets are the first in the West since December, they have shared a few traits over the past few weeks. Until Thursday, neither team was behind in a playoff series, as evidenced by two takeovers in each Game 1 series.
The Heat happened to be minding their business on the road against Milwaukee, New York and Boston – a fact the Nuggets and Jokić knew full well coming in. Jokić knew he would be Public Enemy No. 1 on the Heat’s scouting report, so he didn’t set out to fight power – he just bolstered his teammates with his own aggression.
It seemed to throw the Heat off balance on the first move of this chess game, with Jokić being a willing facilitator and even a decoy while Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon cooked early. Gordon may have been overwhelmed as the best option in Orlando, but he fits right in here, almost like an afterthought in Denver’s mighty plan. Miami took a calculated risk in challenging Gordon to beat them, giving up easy changes to Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, thinking the Nuggets wouldn’t consistently exploit him.
They were wrong. Big mistake.
Jokić dragged Bam Adebayo to the perimeter and gave space on the low block to Gordon, who punished the smaller guards. It would have been very easy, almost tempting for Jokić to strike an aggressive tone, especially given what was at stake.
The whole basketball world is watching, focused just on these two clubs – the hardliners and the casuals. Jokić could very well have put a clown costume on Adebayo like he did Anthony Davis in the last lap, and would not have been wrong to do so.
But the game called for something different, and he agreed.
“To be honest, I was eager to start just because when the game started it was abnormal,” Jokic said. “Everything else didn’t seem — seemed abnormal, and the whole media day yesterday or the day before yesterday was — I think people are doing something bigger than he is.”
He’s taken the fewest shot attempts of any Nugget for three quarters (five) while Adebayo has hoisted another 18 shots to that point. Adebayo was Miami’s only offense while Jokić was still the hub of everything.
Gordon set the tone early with 12 points in the first and Murray did some edge pulls before halftime, scoring 18.
“It’s hard to keep everybody, instead of just one or two guys,” said Murray, who again was brilliant with 26 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. “We force you to be locked on defense throughout the game. I think tonight was just a good example of what could be anyone’s night and anyone’s neighborhood, maybe not yours. It’s just Nuggets basketball.
Of course, that helped Miami’s snipers cool off — with Strus going 0-10, nine misses coming from 3-point range. Caleb Martin was also an absentee, going just 1 of 7 after his breakthrough against the Celtics.
Jimmy Butler didn’t exert his strength after the opening minutes, something you’d think would change heading into Game 2 on Sunday.
Whether it was elevation or some other factor, the moans you heard came from Boston and Milwaukee wondering how this Miami team suddenly decided they couldn’t shoot straight, hitting just 26 percent on 3 over the course of of the first three quarters.
Or maybe it was the Nuggets defense treating Game 1 of the Finals with the appropriate pressure.
“You can’t be the No. 1 seed with just one offense. It’s hard to do,” Murray said. “Jokić has good hands there. [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope] is aggressive. bruce [Brown] is one of the best defenders. [Gordon] is one of the best defenders.
The Nuggets led by 17 and repeatedly threatened to run and hide for the rest of the game – saving a good shot on the Heat whenever it looked like they wanted to make things interesting.
“I think that’s the beauty of Nikola. I learned a long time ago that the defense tells you what to do, and Nikola never forces it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. they’re going to give him that kind of attention, he had 10 assists at halftime I believe. Well, he’ll just separate you. Now it’s up to the other guys to step in and fire.
There’s this almost all-encompassing effort to make Jokić almost holy, to say he doesn’t care about scoring or individual awards in his quest for victory. And that may be true, but there’s a huge element missing from his game: how much he likes to dominate.
Physically, he leans on you like a heavyweight, knowing that in 12 rounds (or seven matches) he’s going to outlast you because he’s going to tire you out. Along with the bumps, screens and general physicality, it’s been a mantra that has filtered down to the rest of the Nuggets.
“He’s a force there, and he’s just more athletic than people think, and he just has a ridiculous engine,” Gordon said. “He has an engine that just won’t stop. It’s hard to keep a guy like that.
They’re not the most physical group, but they’re relentless, and it screams Jokić.
“I think it was the fourth quarter, we got the bonus early,” Malone said. “I was trying to post it, give him the ball, I tried to screen Bam, so he could catch the ball in a scoring area and let Nikola do what he does.”
Twelve of Jokić’s 27 points came in the fourth, when the Heat made a modest comeback. The Heat will leave knowing they can play much better, gaining a foothold in this series – but the Nuggets and Jokić will always lean on them, hammering until there isn’t much slap left in those shots.