DENVER — A white banner with gold, red and blue trim climbed slowly toward the ceiling on two large cables, while Queen’s victory ballad “We Are the Champions” thundered through Ball Arena loudspeakers Tuesday night.
The 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, who returned every coach and 12 players from that team, stood in the corner of the court nearest to where their championship banner was headed for the rafters with fancy, diamond-encrusted gold rings on their fingers.
Those rings, from Jason of Beverly Hills, include a lever that changes the background color from blue to white on top. Hidden in a secret compartment on the side of the ring is a mini banner.
Preceding the raising of the actual banner and distribution of the rings, there was an emotional highlight video from last June. It showed the Nuggets’ Game 5 NBA Finals clincher over the Miami Heat, the players celebrating on the court and fans shedding tears of joy.
Building-shaking applause from the 19,842 on hand for owner Stan Kroenke and his son, team president Josh Kroenke. They kicked it up a notch for coach Michael Malone and cranked it as loud as they could for NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokić.
Then the good people of Denver kept it going all night. Their team picked up where it left off.
The Nuggets put those rings aside and beat the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night in the NBA, 119-107, behind yet another dominant triple-double from Jokić and excellent contributions from Jamal Murray and former Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Denver swept the Lakers out of the Western Conference finals in May, the two sides traded barbs all summer and into training camp and at the end of the Nuggets’ convincing win (its sixth straight over the Lakers, counting regular and postseasons), the local crowd chanted “who’s your daddy?”
Jokić finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his 106th career triple-double in the regular season. He’s coming off an NBA-record 10 triple-doubles in the 2023 playoffs.
Murray contributed 21 points and six assists and Caldwell-Pope, who won his first ring with the Lakers in 2020, added 20 points.
LeBron James, entering his 21st season, paced the Los Angeles with 21 points and added eight rebounds. Anthony Davis scored all 17 of his points in the first half and finished 6-of-17 shooting.
“I thought Nikola did a much better job in that second half of guarding A.D. and making it a lot more difficult for him,” Malone said postgame. “I just told our players I was so proud of them because, you know, you go through an emotional night where you’re receiving rings and then you’re raising a banner. And then you have a team coming on that wants to kind of come out here and give you a loss on your home court.
“This is a great way to start the year in front of a tremendous home crowd. I can’t thank our fans enough for making this the toughest place to play in the NBA.”
The Nuggets lost just one home playoff game en route to last season’s ultimate conquest.
It was a traditional ceremony on opening night in every sense with perhaps one caveat: nothing like it had ever happened before in Denver, at least not where basketball is concerned. The Nuggets’ 2023 title was a celebration of the organization’s first championship in a 56-year history.
“You waited a long time for this,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at midcourt, quieting the usual boos that preceded him.
“Last year was amazing,” Malone said, moments after he’d received his jewelry. “We got one ring. Who wants another?”
The Nuggets do, apparently. They led by as many as 18 in the second quarter and dominated the fourth quarter after a James’ 3-pointer with 9:42 remaining had cut the Laker deficit to three points.
Malone turned back to Jokić about a minute ahead of when he typically puts him back in the game in the fourth quarter, and Jokić calmed the game down for Denver with seven points and five assists in the final period.
“He’s my security blanket,” Malone said. “I’m a very insecure person, so when I start to feel that way, I get Nikola out there and I feel better about myself, and I’m sure all of our fans feel the same way.”
Aaron Gordon contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Denver, while Michael Porter Jr., playing after missing the entire preseason with an ankle sprain, scratched out 12 points and 12 boards.
Taurean Prince finished with 18 points in his first game — and start — for the Lakers, taking the place of injured Jarred Vanderbilt in the lineup. Austin Reaves, coming off his strong showing with Team USA last summer, scored 14 points with eight rebounds.
Neither Reaves (4 of 11), D’Angelo Russell (11 points, 4-of-12 shooting) shot well, joining Davis in gritting through a tough night.
James, meanwhile, was an efficient 10-of-16 shooting with five assists and no turnovers in 29 minutes. He averaged nearly 36 minutes per game last season, and the Lakers outscored the Nuggets by seven Tuesday with James on the court.
“I mean, I always want to be on the floor, especially when you’ve got an opportunity to win a game or feel like you can make an impact,” James said. “But, I guess there’s a system in place, and I followed it.”
(Photo: Garrett Ellwood / NBAE via Getty Images)
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