PBS News Hour

GEOFF BENNETT: In their first championship game in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets outscored the Miami Heat 104 to 93 in game one of the NBA Finals.

The championship matches up two of the most dynamic players in the league, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets, who has burst onto the scene as a star, and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, one of the great playoff performers in the NBA.

David Aldridge is a senior columnist for The Athletic, and he joins us now.

So this is the first time the Denver Nuggets have made it to the championship stage.

Safe to say they didn't disappoint their fans last night.

You're in Denver.

What's the mood like and what does this ascension mean for the Nuggets?

DAVID ALDRIDGE, The Athletic: Well, it's always -- the first time a city or a team makes the finals, it's always kind of fun and exciting.

Everybody's -- something new.

They haven't experienced it.

The whole international media contingent comes down into their city.

And it's a different experience.

And their team is winning, and that's the most important thing.

And the Nuggets have been the best team in these playoffs by far so far in the postseason.

They have really dominated every series that they have played in the first three, and they certainly dominated game one against Miami.

And so the sense is that this team has arrived.

Jokic has been a superstar in this league for the last three or four years.

He's been the league's MVP twice.

He finished second in the MVP voting this year.

So he's a known quantity.

But his team has never had the kind of success that it's had now.

And that's a testament to the organization putting really, really good players around him and some of the key players on the team, like Jamal Murray, coming back from injuries.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk more about Jokic and his stellar performance last night, 27 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds.

Most people may not know who he is.

Tell us more about his backstory and how he helped turn the Nuggets into a championship contender.

DAVID ALDRIDGE: Well, it's a great story.

I mean, Jokic was a second round pick.

When he came into the league, he was 300 pounds, he was heavy, he was out of shape, but he could always play.

He was just -- he just has an incredible, innate gift and ability to see everything on a basketball floor.

And what he can do better than just about everybody in the league is anticipate.

It's a very, very unique skill.

Only the best players of all time, like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had this skill at this kind of level, to me.

That means he sees plays before they start.

He sees where guys are going to be five or six seconds before they get there.

And he can play in a way that he's never sped up.

He never makes bad decisions with the basketball.

You can't get him out of his rhythm.

He just plays the game like he's playing in a park.

And he plays it at such a high level.

I mean, he confounds the best defenses in the NBA night in and night out with his ability to pass and see where his teammates are going to be.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk about the Miami Heat, because that team, I mean, they were no strangers to the championships back when LeBron was their star.

But now they're relying on Jimmy Butler, who had a tough time of it last night.

What do they have to do to turn it around?

DAVID ALDRIDGE: Well, there's a few things.

I mean, they missed a lot of three point shots.

And they have shot the ball very well during the playoffs from the three-point line.

And they missed out way more than they normally do.

So you expect that they will start to play a little bit better and make some of those shots going forward.

Defensively, they just struggled to keep Denver from getting where they wanted to get.

Part of that, they can't do much about.

It's just that Denver is a bigger team than Miami.

So Denver is doing -- in game one at least did a great job of finding the physical mismatches and exploiting those.

You know, Miami can play harder and with more effort and more connectivity.

So that will help.

But you mentioned Jimmy Butler.

I mean, he didn't shoot any free throws in game one.

And that is a -- that's never -- that never happens.

And the Heat as a team only shot two free throws.

So they have to be more aggressive getting to the basket and forcing the referees to call fouls and shoot free throws, because that allows them to set up their defense.

Without the free throws and without making the three-point shots, they were constantly kind of having to get back in a scramble situation.

And even when they were set, Jokic just picked them apart.

He's just so good.

And Jamal Murray had 10 assists as well.

And that -- that's -- you can't win when the two best players are creating that much offense for their teammates.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, that's a good point.

You have covered the NBA for some 30 years.

What excites you about this current matchup between the Nuggets and the Heat?

And what will you be looking for as the finals progress?

DAVID ALDRIDGE: Well, the best thing to me is that this is kind of the NBA on almost a Ph.D. Level.

I mean, I know most casual fans look at the superstars and what they're doing well, LeBron James, or Steph Curry, or some of the best players in the league.

And you have great players in this series, don't get me wrong, but this really is about basketball.

It's about how well the game can be played, because both of these teams play at an extremely high level.

They make good decisions with the ball.

They don't turn the ball over a lot.

And they're just fun to watch because they play the game so well.

They're both very well-coached.

Michael Malone coaches the Nuggets, and Erik Spoelstra coaches the Heat.

They're just two teams that really know how to play.

And so if you like watching basketball played at a very high level, you will love these finals, I think.

And it could go four games or it could go five or six games.

I don't think it'll go seven, but we will see.

But I think, while you're watching it, you're going to see basketball played at a very high level.

GEOFF BENNETT: David Aldridge, senior columnist for The Athletic, thanks so much for speaking with us.

DAVID ALDRIDGE: My pleasure.