Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are NBA champions for the first time in franchise history following a particularly dominant postseason in which the team won 16 of its 20 games. Entering the playoffs as the Western Conference’s top seed for the first time, the Nuggets cruised past the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in a five-game opening-round series win. Playing in his first postseason since 2020, Jamal Murray averaged a team-leading 27.2 points per game and was one of six Nuggets players to average at least 10 points in the series. The fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns pushed Denver to six games in the semifinals, but the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals after Nikola Jokić averaged 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game. The next team in their path was the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, who were 7-0 all-time against Denver in the postseason. This time around, the Nuggets earned their first series sweep in franchise history, winning four games against LeBron James and company thanks to series MVP Jokić averaging a triple-double for a second straight round. Finally, Denver dispatched the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in five games in the NBA Finals in the franchise’s first championship appearance. In Game 3, Jokić and Murray became the first teammates in Finals history to record triple-doubles in the same game, while the Joker’s 10 postseason triple-doubles are a new NBA record. The Finals MVP recipient became the first player to put up at least 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single playoff run, and was also the first to top all three categories in the same postseason. Jokić and Murray averaged 30.0 and 26.1 points, respectively, to lead the way through 20 games and received scoring support from Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, all of whom contributed between 10.6 and 13.4 points per contest.

Championship Year