The first-ever NBA Finals game in Denver took place on Thursday night and if you couldn’t already tell Nuggets fans were certainly feeling themselves. And why not? The Nuggets cruised to a 104-93 win over the Miami Heat behind Nikola Jokić’s ninth- triple-double of the postseason.
The Nuggets secured their first NBA Finals win in franchise history and took a 1-0 series lead. The game was never particularly close and the final score reflected that. And so did the celebration that ended outside Ball Arena following Game 1. After nine days between Thursday’s content and Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets—and their fans—were well-rested and well, ready to celebrate.
The party outside of Ball Arena was one to behold and the Denver ABC affiliate (Denver7) did a great job of describing the surrounding scene and also the smell, as the local broadcast did a live report from Brooklyn’s, a sports bar just 50 yards outside the arena.
“It feels like victory. It sounds like victory. It smells like victory, and also legalization. And they’re having a great time.”
"It feels like victory, it sounds like victory, it smells like victory, and also legalization."
The Denver ABC affiliate (Denver7) with a live report outside Ball Arena after the Nuggets win Game 1 of the NBA Finals. (h/t: @bobtrollsby) ?? pic.twitter.com/RqXh2gAowa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 2, 2023
As of Jan. 1, 2014, the city of Denver legalized the purchase of marijuana for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. While it is illegal to consume it openly and publicly in Colorado, that’s not going to exactly stop Nuggets fans from partaking in recreational use, especially when considering that the team is three wins away from its first-ever championship.
In any event, it made for quite a hilarious scene for a local Denver reporter. And scenes like Thursday’s will be more commonplace if the Nuggets continue to win.