Credit: Twitter
The Denver Nuggets have finally managed to achieve what the fans have been longing for as they grabbed a 94-89 Game 5 win against the Miami Heat. Nikola Jokic and Co are the 2023 NBA champions for the first time in 47 years. However, popular NBA analyst Skip Bayless wasn’t impressed with the quality of either team in the finals as Nuggets dominated the finals with four wins in the five-game series.
The NBA analyst and commentator took to Twitter and also claimed that Los Angeles Lakers would have beaten this Miami Heat team. Nikola Jokic's Nuggets, who swept LeBron James-led Lakers in Conference Finals, took down Miami 4-1 in the NBA Finals to win the first championship in the franchise's history.
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Bayless had earlier predicted that the Heat would beat the Nuggets in the finals but his prediction turned out to be wrong as Denver won the finals. Recently, Skip tweeted, "I love and honor the effort on both sides, but this has to be the worst NBA Finals game EVER PLAYED."
The Nuggets started slow in Game 5 as they missed 20 of their first 22 three-point attempts and seven of their first 13 free throws before outscoring the Heat by 12 points in the second half. The Heat weren’t in their best form either as they shot 34% from the floor and 25% from three. Less than an hour later Skip Bayless tweeted again, "The Lakers obviously would've beaten the Heat."
Bayless has been a vocal critic of both teams throughout the playoffs, especially the Nuggets, who he accused of being “lucky” to beat his favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the Western Conference finals. He also dismissed Nikola Jokic as a “stat machine” who does not deserve to be the MVP or the Finals MVP.
The two sides did face each other in the 2020 NBA Finals at the Orlando Bubble when LeBron averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game, the LA side went on to conclude the series in six games and win their 17th franchise title. The rosters of both teams look very different now and Lakers star James is also not in 2020-like form.
