Celtics’ Defense Closes Out Dallas, 106-88, to Earn Title

BOSTON – (Staff Report) – As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver performed his most important job function of the year 2024, he was able to say something to the Boston Celtics’ team, its management and fans that has never been stated to any team in the history of the League.

Said Silver as he presented the iconic gold Larry O’Brien Trophy, “this is for the Celtics’ NBA record 18th championship.”

No other NBA franchise can say that!

Banner 18.

The Celtics closed-out the 2024 NBA Finals with a 106-88 defensive masterpiece to take the Finals in five games. Surprisingly, the game and the title were decided in the very first quarter as Boston held Dallas’ five-time All-NBA forward Luka Doncic to five points while shutting down Mavericks All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving,  to zero points and one assist as Boston established a 28-18 lead. A lead they’d never relinquish.

Boston countered with a balanced first quarter score sheet with guard Jrue Holiday and forward Jaylen Brown leading the Celtics with six points, each, while guard Derrick White added five points, NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum had four points, three rebounds and four assists and veteran center Al Horford added three points with his patented and reliable long distance shooting.

The balanced scoring set the tone, and Boston’s team defense held Doncic to single figures (nine points) in the first half. He finished with 28 points on 12-for-25 shooting, including a low 2-for-9 from long distance. Irving finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting with 3-of-9 from three-point land.

Boston increased its lead to 26 points (61-35) at the half and coasted to victory as Dallas shots fell short and both teams’ energy level dropped from utter exhaustion.  Throughout the game, there were no lead changes and no ties.

Brown finished Game 5 with a solid 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but struggled from the field, shooting 7-of-23.

Oft-injured center Kristaps Porzingis was able to give his team effort of 16 minutes of playing time, contributing five points and rebound, much to the delight of the 19,158 sold out TD Garden crowd.

Developing Story …

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – There were two key questions coming into Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

1. Would the Boston Celtics come out primed and well rested or flat after a nine day layoff resulting from a 4-0 sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals?
2. Would Celtics’ center Kristaps Porzingis be healthy and effective after a month long injury hiatus resulting from a strained calf?

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The answers for the Celtics became evident in the very first quarter of this championship series as the Celtics jumped out to a 37-20 advantage and Porzingis led the way with 16 points on 4-of-5 FG shooting, including 1-of-2 from three-point land, 2-of-2 from the line. Porzingis also grabbed three rebounds and blocked two important Dallas shots in the first quarter to set the defensive tone Boston thrived on throughout their league-leading regular season and 12-2 march to the Finals.

The final score of Boston 107, Dallas 89 further answered tho0se questions.

Dallas All-NBA star Luka Doncic slugged it out and managed to score 30 points on 12-of-26 field goal shooting, including a horrid 4-of-12 from 3-point range and sub par 2-of-5 from the free throw line.

Porzingis played 7:17 of the first quarter, looked agile and worked pain free, posting up his defenders, passing well, running the pick and roll and sprinting the length of the floor to hit the defensive boards. The effort allowed Boston to cruise to a 63-42 halftime lead and establish control over the game, allowing only flurries of the Mavericks’ high powered offense to surface.

Boston two All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum scored 22 and 16 points, respectively. Tatum led the Celtics with 11 rebounds. Boston had a narrow 47-43 edge on the boards and an impressive 32-20 advantage on bench scoring, much to the credit of Porzingis’ 20-point effort.

Winning Game 1 in the NBA Finals gives the Celtics a 70% chance of taking the best-of-seven game series which resumes this Sunday on the same TD Garden court.

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Preview) – Welcome to Digital Sports Desk’s on-site coverage as the 2024 NBA Finals tipoff tonight with the Dallas Mavericks visiting the Boston Celtics in Game 1 at TD Garden. The Celtics are consensus 6.5-point favorites coming off their sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Mavericks seek to steal home-court advantage in their quest for the franchise’s first NBA title since 2011.

TRENDING
The underdog Mavericks have been popular with the public ahead of Game 1, which is understandable considering Dallas has covered the spread in seven of its past eight road games. The Mavericks have been backed by 74 percent of the spread-line money at BetRivers, where they have also drawn 57 percent of the moneyline handle at +200.

Boston has won eight consecutive games against Western Conference opponents, and the Celtics have won the first half in each of their past five meetings against the Mavs.

The Over/Under on the Vegas line was at 215.5 this morning, with the Over heavily supported with 84 percent of the money.

PROP PICKS
–Luka Doncic Over 31.5 Points (-110 at DraftKings): This has been the most popular player point total prop at the books, and Dallas’ superstar averaged 32.4 points in the team’s five-game win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. That was a significant uptick from averaging 24.7 points in the six-game series win over Oklahoma City in the semis.

–Jaylen Brown Over 20.5 Points (-265 at BettingHero): The book reported 4.7 percent of the total player prop bets ahead of Game 1 have backed the Over on Brown’s point total. Dallas has a superior defense to Indiana’s, but Brown did average 29.8 points in the sweep of the Pacers while scoring at least 24 in each game.

STARS REBORN
Dallas guard Kyrie Irving and Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis find themselves pitted against their former teams, with Irving’s breakup with the Celtics much messier than Porzingis’ departure from the Mavericks.

Irving spent two seasons in Boston (2017-19) and told fans that he planned on re-signing with the Celtics. That didn’t happen, though, and Irving broke for the Brooklyn Nets once the summer rolled around. He has been met with boos when playing in Boston ever since, and his teams have lost the past six games against the Celtics.

But a hostile environment is the last thing Irving is worried about on the NBA’s biggest stage.

“There’s no fear out here, man. It’s basketball,” Irving said. “The fans are going to say what they’re going to say. I appreciate them and their relationship they have to the game. But it’s about the players at the end of the day.”

Dallas moved on from Porzingis at the 2022 trade deadline, shipping him to the Washington Wizards after deciding that he wasn’t the right piece to pair with Doncic.

“I don’t know why it didn’t work out,” Doncic said. “We were still both young. We tried to make it work, but it just didn’t work.”

DROUGHT STRICKEN
Both teams are trying to win a championship for the first time in over a decade. The Mavericks’ last title came in 2011, while Boston hasn’t gone all the way since 2008.

The Celtics had a golden opportunity to secure their 18th title in franchise history just two years ago, but they fell 4-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. Looking back on it now, Boston star Jayson Tatum thinks there was a silver lining in coming up short.

“It was a lesson to be learned,” Tatum said. “I told myself that if I ever got the opportunity again to make it to the Finals, that (I’d) never take it for granted. Obviously, we’re here now and thankful to be here.

“I’m excited to get ready to play and have fun (Thursday).”

Dallas, on the other hand, will be appearing in the Finals for the first time since its title run 13 years ago. Irving, Markieff Morris and Derrick Jones Jr. are the only Mavericks with experience in this stage of the postseason.

“Some of us for the Mavs have been here, some of us haven’t,” said Dallas coach Jason Kidd, who was the starting point guard on the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team. “We’re going to embrace that and find a way to hopefully win a series.”

INJURY REPORT
Beating the Celtics could get a lot harder depending on the health of Porzingis, who has missed the past 10 games due to a right soleus (calf) strain. Porzingis will be good to go for Game 1, but he’s unsure if he will be operating at 100 percent.

“I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get (Thursday),” Porzingis said. “It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this.”

PREDICTION
The Celtics have been riding a high since their improbable final-minute comeback against Indiana to kick off the conference finals. The 6.5-point line is a big one to swallow, so we’re more focused on Game 1 odds contributing to a slow start and backing the Under at 215.5 points. — Game 1: Celtics 109, Mavericks 104. Celtics in 7 for the NBA Finals.

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With a long wait for the NBA Finals begin, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla made it known that there is one storyline he will not delve into any further in the days before Game 1, scheduled for this Thursday.

The relationship between Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum has been analyzed for years. Brown is Boston’s former No. 3 overall pick in 2016 out of Cal, and Tatum was selected No. 3 overall from Duke a year later.

The draft pick slots were acquired through a pair of savvy trades by the Celtics’ front office and have restored a winning culture to a legendary franchise, but drama has followed the duo since they were paired together in the NBA.

While talk of the fractured dynamic has slowed somewhat in recent years, Mazzulla was asked about it potentially being a talking point before Game 1 when the Dallas Mavericks visit Boston.

“I’m kind of (considering) how deep I want to get into that because the whole thing about that really (angers me),” Mazzulla said at a news conference Friday. “I think it’s unfair to both of them and I think it’s stupid that people have to use those two guys’ names and use information they don’t know to create click bait so that they can stay relevant.”

The Brown-Tatum duo has never missed the playoffs. In fact, they have led Boston to the Eastern Conference finals in five of the past seven seasons and into the NBA Finals this season and in 2022, when they fell to the Golden State Warriors.

A bruising forward with long-distance shooting range, Tatum has finished at least sixth in NBA MVP voting in each of the past three seasons. Brown, an All-Star in three of the past four seasons, is a scoring guard who has averaged at least 20 points in each of the past five seasons.

“It’s very unfair that those two get compared,” Mazzulla said. “They’re two completely different people, two completely different players. They’re great teammates, they love each other and they go about winning and they go about their process in a different way. So why they have to be lumped together I think is unfair and people just use it for their own (relevance).”

Brown, 27, averaged 23.0 points with 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 70 regular-season games. Tatum, 26, averaged 26.9 points with 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 74 games.

“We need each other,” Tatum said in October, per The Boston Globe. “We can have enough individual success, making All-NBA and All-Stars and getting contracts, but ultimately we know what is going to matter: if we can hang a championship banner.

“It’s a long season, playoffs is long, and we understand I won’t be able to win a championship without him and he won’t be able to do it without me.”

Boston was far and away the NBA’s best team in the regular season with a 64-18 record that was good for a .780 winning percentage. No other team had better than a .695 winning percentage.

“At the end of the day, those two guys, their relationship is their relationship,” Mazzulla said. “They love each other, they push each other every single day in practice, they communicate with each other but they go about winning differently.

“I think they both get an unfair (treatment) being compared to each other. They’re different. You see other duos around the league that don’t have to go through that and it’s because of the platform they have, it’s because they have been so successful their entire careers, they’ve been able to have longstanding success at a high, high level so people need them in order to stay relevant.”

The Celtics’ dominance has extended into the playoffs with a 12-2 record, although each team they defeated — Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers — was missing key pieces.

Now Boston enters the NBA Finals on an seven-game winning streak, with Tatum scoring 26.0 points with 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 14 playoff games. Brown is at 25.0 points with 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14 games.

“They’re two of the greatest teammates and players you can have and it’s been a honor to coach both of them,” Mazzulla said. “It doesn’t mean they have to be the same, so it’s bull—t. And I love both of them and they deserve better.”

–Field Level Media

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As the final seconds ticked down toward the first NBA title in Denver Nuggets history, star center Nikola Jokic walked backward past center court, turned toward the Miami Heat bench and shook hands with his vanquished opponents.

Understated when the championship moment arrived, Jokic was anything but during the Game 5 of theNBA Finals, scoring 28 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in a 94-89 victory on Monday to wrap up the NBA championship.

After not winning the 2022-23 regular season MVP award for the first time in three seasons, Jokic instead helped Denver earn the ultimate team prize and was chosen the Finals MVP. The Nuggets never lost more than twice in any playoff series and finished with 10 victories in their last 11 postseason games.

“It’s good, it’s good,” Jokic said immediately after the victory on the ABC broadcast. “We can finally go home now.”

Jokic, always reluctant to talk about his own play, instead spoke volumes on the court by averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

“Nikola Jokic is a great person, he is a great husband, father, son and brother, and on the basketball court he has proven time and time again that he is the best player in the NBA,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “He’s our MVP, we love him and we’re thankful he’s wearing a Nuggets uniform.”

Michael Porter Jr. put up 16 points and 13 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 14 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 11 as the top seed from the Western Conference finished off the eighth seed from the Eastern Conference in the best-of-seven series.

Denver advanced to the ABA Finals in 1976, joined the NBA the following season then lost in the Western Conference finals four times before making the title series this season.

“All the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the dedication all culminated in winning the championship,” Malone said. “We have news for everybody out there: We’re not satisfied with one. We want more. We want more.”

Jimmy Butler rallied late to score 21 points for Miami, while Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds and Max Strus and Kyle Lowry each had 12 points. The Heat knocked off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and the second-seeded Boston Celtics on their way to representing the Eastern Conference in the Finals.

The Heat became just the second eighth seed to reach an NBA Finals, joining the 1999 New York Knicks, who lost the title series to the San Antonio Spurs.

“(It’s) true in sport and also in life that you don’t always get what you want, but there is no regret from our side,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody, staff and player alike, put themselves out there and put themselves into the team, whatever was best for the team. The tough pill to swallow is that it just wasn’t good enough. … (The Nuggets) are one hell of a basketball team.”

Perhaps struggling with the magnitude of the moment, the Nuggets shot just 1 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half and 3 of 8 from the free-throw line. However, they trailed just 51-44 at halftime before leading by as many as three points in the third quarter. Denver entered the fourth quarter trailing 71-70.

A jump hook by Jokic early in the final period gave the Nuggets a 72-71 lead with 11:39 to play before both teams ramped up their defensive intensity. After neither side scored for a 2:35 stretch, Jamal Murray’s 14-foot pullup jumper gave Denver an 81-76 advantage with 6:43 left.

A Jokic runner put the Nuggets up 83-76 with 4:43 remaining as the Heat opened the fourth quarter 2 of 16 from the field. Butler came to life in the final period, scoring the team’s last 13 points, including three free throws that were awarded even though he kicked out his right leg and caught an opponent on a 3-point attempt. However, Miami did not score over the final 1:57.

You can’t always get what you want,

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t hanging his head after seeing his team lose both of its home games in the NBA Finals. Although the Heat are facing elimination as they head to Denver to play Game 5 this Monday, Spoelstra remained confident that his charges would extend the series to Game 6 back in Miami.

“All we’re focused on — I told the guys, feel whatever you want to feel tonight. It’s fine. You probably shouldn’t sleep tonight any amount of time. I don’t think anybody will,” Spoelstra said following the Heat’s 108-95 setback on Friday.

“We have an incredibly competitive group. We’ve done everything the hard way, and that’s the way it’s going to have to be done right now, again. All we are going to focus on is getting this thing back to the 305. Get this thing back to Miami. And things can shift very quickly.”

The Heat know that all too well, especially since they saw their 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference final go by the boards. They righted the ship by winning Game 7, however.

“You take it one game at a time,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “We’ve seen a team come back from 3-0 firsthand. So we just have to believe, and one game at a time.”

Jimmy Butler had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Adebayo amassed 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat. Kyle Lowry scored 13 points while Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson added 12 apiece for Miami.

The Heat are still holding out hope that they can become the second team to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals.

“It’s the same thing that it’s always been — it’s a game at a time,” Butler said. “Now we’re in a must-win situation every game, which we’re capable of. We’ve got to correct some things, but it’s not impossible. We got three to get.”

–Field Level Media

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MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Denver Nuggets stand two victories away from their first NBA title and their top two players are coming off historic performances. But the Nuggets remember their Game 2 home loss and know they will need to deliver a supreme effort on Friday night when they face the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Denver holds a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series and are setting out to win back-to-back games in Miami. The Nuggets controlled the second half during a 109-94 win on Wednesday night and re-gained the crucial home-court advantage which makes Miami need to win a game at the Mile High city.

“Good win for us,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, “but we did not come down here to get one win.”

What Denver did get was history-making outings from two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

Jokic produced a stat line of 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists and became the first player ever to log at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in an NBA Finals game. It was just the fifth such contest in NBA playoff history — three coming from Jokic and one each from Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Murray scored a game-high 34 points to go with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. It represents the first game in which two players on the same team scored at least 30 points during a triple-double in NBA history.

“They played amazing,” veteran forward Jeff Green said. “They took what the defense gave them. Jokic has been doing it all year. Both of them, Jamal as well. We feed off of those guys. They make the game easy for us and we try to do the same for them.”

Denver also dominated the interior. The Nuggets had a 58-33 rebounding advantage and a 60-34 edge in points in the paint.

The Heat appear to be losing steam during a playoff run that began with them claiming a berth through the play-in round and then upsetting the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

Miami took a 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Since then, the Heat have dropped five of seven games.

And if Miami falls behind 3-1, two of the final three games of the series are scheduled for Denver. The Nuggets’ loss in Game 2 was their first in 10 home games this postseason.

Heat center Bam Adebayo said the squad has faced challenging situations before.

“You trust one another to do their job, and you let the chips fall where they may,” said Adebayo, who had 22 points and 17 rebounds in Game 3. “You trust 1 through 5, 1 through 15. You trust the staff. Everybody has a belief that you can get that job done.

“If everybody has that belief and everybody comes with the right mindset, that is how you can get it done.”

Jimmy Butler scored 28 points on Wednesday. The Miami star is averaging 20.7 points and shooting 42.1 percent in the series.

“I continue to be who I am,” Butler said of his Finals performance. “We will continue to be who we are as a group, as a team. We’re going to go out here and compete together. We’re going to win together.”

Meanwhile, limiting the damage from Jokic and Murray will be part of the focus. Jokic is averaging 33.3 points, 14 rebounds and 9.3 assists, while Murray is contributing 26 points, 10 assists and 6.7 rebounds.

“I think this is the time where the players show what they’ve got,” Jokic said one day after posting his 10th triple-double of the postseason.

Miami guard Tyler Herro will again sit out, coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. Herro broke the hand on April 16 in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks and underwent surgery on April 21.

–Field Level Media

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Miami Heat find themselves in unfamiliar territory after a series opener in the playoffs, while the Denver Nuggets are all too comfortable with where they stand.

The Heat aim to level the NBA Finals against the Nuggets on Sunday when the teams reconvene in Denver for Game 2.

Miami entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, thereby starting each series on the road. The Heat, however, set the tone for each previous series by recording a 13-point win over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and seven-point victories in each of the next two series openers.

Miami has lost four of its last five games overall and is facing a deficit for the first time in these playoffs. That’s foreign territory for the Heat, although now a reality after they dropped a 104-93 decision on Thursday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

“That was one of my last messages to the group before our game,” Denver coach Michael Malone said after his team improved to 9-0 at home in the playoffs.

“I reminded our group, if they didn’t know, that Miami went into Milwaukee (in the first round) and won Game 1. They went into the Garden in New York City (in the second round) and won Game 1. They won Game 1 up in Boston (in the Eastern Conference finals). So, we did not want them coming in here taking control of the series on our court.”

Credit Nikola Jokic for making certain that didn’t happen. Jokic recorded his ninth triple-double of the playoffs — and sixth in his last seven games — after collecting 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in Game 1.

“The most important thing is to win a game,” Jokic said. “I’m trying to win a game in any possible way.”

Jamal Murray added 26 points and 10 assists for the Nuggets, who shot a blistering 50.6 percent from the floor (40 of 79). Denver also made 16 of its 20 free-throw attempts, which was significantly better than Miami’s all-too-brief performance at the line.

The Heat went to the charity stripe on just two occasions to set an NBA postseason record for fewest free throw attempts in a game.

“Things have to be done with a lot more intention and a lot more pace, a lot more detail,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We are an aggressive, attacking team, and so if we are not getting those kind of opportunities at the rim or at the free throw line, we have to find different ways to be able to do it.”

Bam Adebayo collected 26 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and Jimmy Butler had 13, seven and seven, respectively. Neither player ventured to the foul line, however.

“You’ve got to attack and attack everybody, not just one individual,” Butler said. “I have to do a better job of creating the help, one, two guys, and getting to my shooter, otherwise finishing at the rim, making shots.

“But we missed a lot (Thursday), and we’ll be better in Game 2. At the end of the day, that’s what it is, and we’ll take this and we’ll learn from it.”

–Field Level Media

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The 2015 NHL Draft had two gems right at the top. With the No. 1 pick, Connor McDavid was selected by the Edmonton Oilers. The No. 2 pick – Jack Eichel – was a no brainer and fell right into the lap of the Buffalo Sabres.

McDavid, out of Richmond Hill, Ontario, is often referred to as the best player in the NHL. There are rarely arguments, but McDavid has only advanced his team to the Conference Finals.

Eichel has taken a different path, call it the Scenic Route, to the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final.

A native of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, the Boston University product took home the prestigious Hobey Baker Award as a freshman. The award recognizes the best player in all of NCAA men’s ice hockey and Eichel was the second freshman to ever receive the award, following NHL legend Paul Kariya.

For BU, Eichel was the Most Valuable Player in Hockey East. He led the Conference in scoring, was voted Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, First Team All Conference, First Team All-Rookie. Eichel scored 26 goals and had 45 assists for 71 points for BU, all while playing for the USA Hockey Developmental team. In 2015, he turned pro and signed a three-year entry contract with the Sabres.

All was not sunny in Buffalo.

Eichel was the top goal scorer for the Sabres and No. 2 on the team in points, quickly rising to accept the team’s captaincy, an honor usually reserved for the most NHL-tested veterans.

Despite an NHL All-Star appearance and an eight-year $80 million contract extension, Eichel fought through two severe ankle sprains and played 67 of 82 games in 2018. He hit the 100-goal mark and 300 points mark as the NHL plowed its way through a COVID-19 season. By late April 2021, Eichel required surgery for a spinal disc herniation.

The scenic route was getting pretty ugly and he sparred with the front office and direction of the Sabres. By September of 2021, Eichel had failed his team physical, was stripped of the team captaincy and placed on the Sabres’ long-term injury list. The division was enough to force the Sabres to trade him and his $10m a year contract to the Vegas Golden Knights.

After the six-year sojourn in Buffalo, Eichel turned the page and started anew in 2022-23 as the Golden Knights were doing the same with their new coach, former Boston Bruins man, Bruce Cassidy. The stars began to align and Vegas qualified for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, defeating Winnipeg, Edmonton (bye-bye Connor McDavid) and the Dallas Stars to earn their place in the Stanley Cup Final. (Game 1: Saturday, June 3).

While Vegas played its Jack, the Denver Nuggets played a Joker, as in center and former NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.

Born in the north of Serbia, Jokic played 2012-2014 out of Belgrade with Mega Basket, the Clip Show of Belgrade to the more Lake Show Partizan club. Jokic played in Serbian League games and Adriatic League games and caught the eye of Denver Nuggets Assistant GM/scout Arturas Karnisovas, a former Seton Hall star and Lithuanian national team player, now the president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls.

Denver spent its first-round pick (No. 11 overall) on guard/forward Doug McDermott, the sharpshooter out of Creighton. As the draft progressed, Chicago took Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkic with the 16th pick and Michigan State guard Gary Harris at No. 19. Both players were shipped to Denver as part of the deal.

Karnisovas pressed the brass at his post in Denver to select Jokic with the club’s second-round pick which came along at No. 41. They grabbed him after Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant and Glenn Robinson III went ahead of Jokic with picks No. 38-40. No. 41 should’ve come gift-wrapped.

Interestingly, Dario Šarić (Orlando at No. 12), Jusuf Nurkić (Chicago at No. 16) and Bogdan Bogdanović (Phoenix at No. 17) were all drafted ahead of their European counterpart, much to Denver’s delight.

After being voted to the All-Rookie team in 2016, Jokic has five All-NBA selections, three on the first team, five NBA All-Star appearances, and two NBA Most Valuable Player awards. He fell to second in the MVP voting this season behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

Eichel took the scenic route to the NHL Stanley Cup Final from his No. 2 selection while Jokic took a non-stop, direct flight to stardom with the Denver Nuggets and is playing in the 2023 NBA Finals. Jokic started his Finals experience, becoming only the second player in NBA history to record a triple-double (27, 10 and 14 assists) in his first Finals game. The other was guard Jason Kidd with the NJ Nets.

Anyone in the NBA care to re-draft?

BY THE WAY: Why is it the NHL Stanley Cup Final but the 2023 NBA Finals?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: USA Basketball will have two teams in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup semifinals for the second time in event history (2016). In their quarterfinal matchups Saturday evening in Vienna, Austria, the men defeated France 21-19 followed an hour later by the women overtaking Austria 21-17.

Kareem Maddox, Dylan Travis, Jimmer Fredette and Canyon Barry make up the USA Basketball men’s team.

On Sunday, the women will take on China, who defeated Germany in the quarterfinals, at 8:30am (ET). The men will face Brazil, who stunned Poland on a last-second two-pointer in the quarterfinals at 10:05am (ET).

The 3×3 World Cup is streaming live on FIBA’s 3×3 YouTube. Game times are subject to change.

FIBA HALL of FAME: This week, USA Basketball legend Katrina McClain was been selected to the FIBA Hall of Fame Class of 2023. McClain is one of 12 members of a class that also includes NBA great Yao Ming (CHN), and former WNBA’s star Penny Taylor (AUS).

SALE OUT: The Boston Red Sox placed oft-injured, left-handed pitcher Chris Sale on the 15-Day Injured List due to left shoulder inflammation. Sale, 34, has made 11 starts for the Red Sox this season, going 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA (30 ER/59.0 IP). In Friday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 3.2 innings, before exiting the game in the fourth inning due to left shoulder soreness.

The left-hander is 45-27 with a 3.23 ERA (225 ER/627.0 IP) in 106 career games with the Red Sox, and is 119-77 with a 3.08 ERA (370 ER/1,737.0 IP) in 334 career games (254 starts) with the Chicago White Sox (2010-16) and Boston (2017-23).

TIDBITS: Former Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Kansas City Kings Public relations Director Julie Fie will receive the 2023 Bell Tower of Fame at opening ceremonies of the annual Bell Tower Festival, Friday, June 9.

Tower of Fame recipients are chosen for their international, national or statewide personal or professional efforts that bring awareness and pride to Greene County. Awardees must have lived in Greene County sometime in their lives. Julie is being recognized for her outstanding NBA public relations career.

STADIUM SERIES: Just prior to the face-off of Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, the National Hockey League said the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series will take place Feb. 17-18 at MetLife Stadium, the home of the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Football Giants. The event will feature four teams – the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and New York Islanders – in two NHL regular-season outdoor games. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the Devils will play host to the Flyers, and on Sunday, Feb. 18 the Rangers will face off against the Islanders.

ROCKPORT = ROCK BOTTOM: The Rockport Company LLC has submitted a state notice that it is shutting down its Newton, Massachusetts headquarters and could layoff nearly 150 employees.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) notice filed on May 9, the shoe company indicated it plans on laying off 148 employees sometime between July 8 and July 22.

Rockport was founded in Marlborough, Massachusetts in 1971 by Saul L. Katz and his son, Bruce R. Katz. The business was acquired by Reebok in 1986 and then sold thirty years later in 2015. The Rockport Company moved to its Newton home in 2017, before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018.

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: It’s Game 2 of The 2023 NBA Finals and tonight, it’s all about the Joker – Nikola Jokić – He’s a Joker, a picker, a grinner, a roller. He gets his love in on the run. No one calls him Maurice.

TL

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Well aware of their opponent’s penchant for fast starts, the Denver Nuggets treated their first-ever NBA Finals game as if everything were on the line.

Even with the Game 1 urgency, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic never panicked, finishing off another triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists as the Nuggets rolled to a 104-93 victory Thursday against the visiting Miami Heat.

Jamal Murray scored 26 points and handed out 10 assists for the Nuggets, Michael Porter Jr. added 14 points and 13 rebounds and Aaron Gordon had 16 points as Denver won the series opener without having to lean heavily on Jokic, even as he ended up leading the way.

“Right now, the most important thing is to win a game, and I’m trying to win a game in any possible way,” Jokic said on the ABC broadcast. “I don’t need to shoot and I know I don’t need to score to affect the game, and I think I did a good job today. Everybody contributed.”

Jokic wound up 8 of 12 from the field after taking just five shots through three quarters. He extended his NBA single-year record with his ninth triple-double of the playoffs.

Denver, the Western Conference’s top seed, shot 59.5 percent from the field in the first half and 50.6 percent for the game while improving to 9-0 at home in the playoffs. The Nuggets were sharp, even after a nine-day wait between their conference-final sweep and the start of the NBA Finals.

Bam Adebayo amassed 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, but Jimmy Butler was held to 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. The No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference failed to win the opener of a series on the road for the first time in four tries.

“I reminded our group, if they didn’t know, that Miami went into Milwaukee (in the first round) and won Game 1,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “They went into the Garden in New York City (in the second round) and won Game 1. They won Game 1 up in Boston (in the Eastern Conference finals). So we did not want them coming in here, taking control of the series on our court.”

Gabe Vincent scored 19 points while Haywood Highsmith added 18 for the Heat, who shot 37.5 percent in the first half and 40.6 percent on the night. Miami was 2 of 2 from the free-throw line, an NBA Finals record for least number of free-throw attempts in a playoff game.

“They were in a pretty good rhythm, especially in that first half,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Nuggets. “Our disposition, the efforts, the resolve in the second half was much better. But (when) you get to this level, it has to be complete games of that disposition.”

Jokic was content to occupy the role of playmaker in the first quarter, not taking his first shot from the field until 3.3 seconds remained. He made the close-range attempt as Denver took a 29-20 lead at the end of the opening period.

The Nuggets opened their first double-digit lead at 32-22 on a 3-pointer by Murray with 10:31 remaining in the first half, and the hosts led 59-42 at halftime.

Denver grabbed its first lead of at least 20 points at 81-60 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter, on a pull-up jumper from Bruce Brown. The Nuggets went into the fourth quarter with an 84-63 advantage.

The Heat opened the final period on an 11-0 run to get within 84-74 with 9:29 remaining. The Nuggets seized control again, taking a 90-74 lead with 7:16 left on a layup from Jokic, and closed out the victory from there.

“I definitely think (the Nuggets) came out with a lot of physicality, and we have to be able to match that,” said Butler, who insisted he was not affected by the effort expended to win the Eastern Conference finals in seven games. “They did their job on their home floor. You have to say that. But we will be ready, we will adjust and do things differently.”

–Field Level Media

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