PHOTO: Nikola Jokic seen wearing Denver Nuggets sweatshirt at 5 in Serbia as he got named NBA Finals MVP in 2023

Nikola Jokic seen wearing Denver Nuggets sweatshirt at 5 in Serbia as he got named NBA Finals MVP in 2023.

Nikola Jokic – who became the first player in history to lead the league in points (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) in a single postseason – bailed out his teammates with 28 points and 16 rebounds on a night when nothing else seemed to work.

The Serbian international won the Bill Russell trophy as the NBA Finals MVP – an award that certainly has more meaning to him than the two overall MVPs he won in 2021 and ’22.

“We are not in it for ourselves, we are in it for the guy next to us,” Jokic said. “And that’s why this (means) even more.” Battling foul trouble and a Miami Heat team that refused to die, Jokić amassed 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in a 94-89 victory in front of the 19,537 raucous fans filling Ball Arena. Jokić received all votes in the Finals MVP voting, concluding a historic playoff run for the 7-foot Serbian and his Denver teammates.

As a two-time regular-season MVP and now champion, Jokić joins a heady list of basketball greats that includes only Bob Pettit, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“The job is done,” Jokić said on the postgame broadcast, humble as ever. “We can go home now.”

The Nuggets led by seven late in the fourth quarter, and the Heat were on a five-minute scoring drought, when Jimmy Butler scored 13 straight points for his team, raising the eighth-seeded zombies from the grave and taking an 89-88 lead into the final two minutes. A Bruce Brown put-back returned the lead to Denver, and Butler’s turnover with 27.4 seconds left gifted the Nuggets a chance to finally lay Miami to rest. The Nuggets, 9-for-19 from the line at the time, made four straight free throws down the stretch to clinch.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are the 1st pair of teammates in NBA history to each average 25+ PPG, 5+ RPG and 5+ APG for an entire postseason. Jamal Murray to the Nuggets Owner:

“Way to get you one, baby…I appreciate you staying patient with me.…Y’all could have gone a different route, I appreciate you staying with me. We got it done.”