The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 104-93 in Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals.
Nikola Jokic led the way for Denver with another triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists, while Jimmy Butler had a somewhat uneventful night with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Game 1 of the Finals.
The way Gokek finds his teammates so easily is insane haha
– Aamir Sims (@EarlShmitty_) June 2, 2023
AG really is a beast, a perfect fit that can bring you back to life
– RJ (@RjHampton14) June 2, 2023
Butler finished with 13 points imagining the hurling would get Tatum if he dropped that in the Finals
– ⏳ (kingDiaws) June 2, 2023
We can talk about shooting, we can talk about defense
But Jimmy Butler needs to be better at this stage of qualifying
– Brady Hawk (@ BradyHawk305) June 2, 2023
Jimmy Butler smiling 👀👀👀
– Bohons 🪼 (@ Demar305) June 2, 2023
Haywood Hay Smith outlasts butler Jimmy “Michael Jordan” in the NBA Finals
– Teju (@IQfor3) June 2, 2023
Helps:
Nikola Jokic Tonight:
14
Michael Jordan in the entire 1998 NBA Finals:
14
– Barry (@BarryOnHere) June 2, 2023
A win is a win, but if I’m in Denver, I treat this as a loss. Heat really figured something put Highsmith over Jokic. This is one of those fairly small tweaks that can win a series.
– Justin Russo (FlyByKnite) June 2, 2023
Jokic 27 points on 12 shots with 14 assists. He has brought up this baseline 180 times over the past three years. Really just another Thursday for Nicola.
– NBA University (NBA_University) June 2, 2023
I’m sorry, but hearing Mark Jackson rave about Nikola Jokic’s brilliance after being left out in the MVP ballot sounds pretty disingenuous.
—Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) June 2, 2023
Jokic only had one try in the first quarter and he still tripled.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) June 2, 2023
Just not really sure how we describe Jokic anymore. Dude just walked that baseline and seemed unfazed all night.
– James L. Edwards III (JLEdwardsIII) June 2, 2023
Jokic just had the coldest 27-10-14 you will ever see
– Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) June 2, 2023
It’s nice to know you have a “Jokic Record” as a mod if you need it.
– Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) June 2, 2023
Embiid crying over this MVP actually stopped Jokic’s crazy run. He was sitting on 3 straight mvps and ring and FMVP
– Le5-6 (deepyy_) June 2, 2023
Never forget that Mark Jackson (who calls the game all series) didn’t have Jokic in the top 5 player voting # nuggets #NBAF Finals 2023
– Brendan Schaub June 2, 2023
Murray’s Clinic, Gokick and Nuggets players are very good. But Heat can’t be so frustrating, just have to go back to fake shooting, nothing we didn’t know before
– Chiddy 🇳🇬 (@chiddyafc) June 2, 2023
Heat fans are probably freaked out that they can’t blame Pam tonight
– Austin (@ChefTrillie_) June 2, 2023
The Heat won the minutes Jimmy Butler was off the court in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on the road and didn’t get a W
He must reach them
– Christian Hernandez (@ICanBeYourHerro) June 2, 2023
Why do fans complain about uneven free throws – I mention a player other than Bam who was attacking the edge
– Bohons 🪼 (@ Demar305) June 2, 2023
Martin will never shoot 1/7 again.
Strauss will never shoot 0/10 again.
– 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (HeatvsHaters) June 2, 2023