Global Courant
DENVER — Confetti flying in Denver. The Nuggets pass the NBA championship trophy.
Those scenes that seemed impossible for decades, and recently started to feel unavoidable, finally became a reality on Monday night.
The Nuggets outlasted the Miami Heat 94-89 in an ugly, frantic Game 5 that failed to derail Nikola Jokic, who saved his teammates with 28 points and 16 rebounds on a night when nothing else seemed to work.
Trailing by three with 15 seconds left, Butler grabbed a 3, but missed it. Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each made two free throws to put the game out of bounds and clinch the title for Denver.
Butler finished with 21 points.
As ugly as it was, the aftermath was something the Nuggets and their fans all agreed was beautiful. At the final buzzer, fireworks exploded outside Ball Arena. Denver is home to the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in the franchise’s 47 years in the league.