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The Denver Nuggets have been staying diligent, but haven’t played a professional basketball since May 22, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the final win of a four-game […]
The Denver Nuggets have been staying diligent, but haven’t played a professional basketball since May 22, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the final win of a four-game sweep that sent the franchise to its first NBA Finals.
The Miami Heat appeared all but certain to be the Nuggets opponent with a 3-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. After all, NBA teams up 3-0 in the playoffs were 150-0 heading in to this series.
But as fate would have it, Boston stayed alive with a road win in Game 4, followed by a convincing home win in Game 5. Game 6 went the Celtics way for most of the night, and yet Boston still found themselves down 102-101 with 2.1 seconds left. Marcus Smart’s potential game-winning shot rimmed out, but former Colorado Buffalo Derrick White scooped up the miss for the game-winning score as time expired, sending the series back to Boston for Game 7.
In Game 7, the Heat jumped out to an early lead and never let up. Caleb Martin was the game’s unlikely hero, with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including deadly 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Jimmy Butler was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points on a somewhat inefficient 12-of-28 shooting.
Miami won Game 7 in Boston 103-84, smothering the Celtics offense and not allowing a single 20-point scorer.
The Heat set up an NBA Finals matchup with the Denver Nuggets after losing their first play-in game, resulting in being knocked down to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, followed by series wins over the higher-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and now Boston Celtics.
For Miami, it’s their 7th NBA Finals appearance in franchise history all occurring since 2006. The Heat may not appear as your typical dynasty, earning seven trips in three wildly different eras, but their seven Finals Trips since 2006 is the most in the NBA. There are two mainstays during these seven trips: head coach Erik Spoelstra (head coach for six trips, assistant in 2006) and Udonis Haslem (20 seasons as a player, currently more of a mentor role.)
Of course, four of these Finals Trips came in the LeBron James/Big Three era, earning two championships. The Heat also won in 2006, over the Dallas Mavericks, with Dwyane Wade and Sahquille O’Neal at the helm.
As noted, the Nuggets have never played an NBA Finals game before, waiting 46 seasons to do so, the longest in league history*.
*The Los Angeles Clippers have played more seasons without appearing in a Finals game, but haven’t broken their streak yet, where as Denver has.
Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Fials will be in Ball Arena in Denver, something that seemed unlikely heading in to te postseason, with the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and Ohiladelphia 76ers all holding betterrecords than the Nuggets.
Instead, the 8th-seeded Heat (the second 8th-seed to ever make the NBA Finals) yield home-court to the Nuggets, the best team in the Western Conference during the regular season.
Game 1 will top off on Thursday, June 1 at 8:30 PM ET/6:30 PM MT. Game 2 will follow on Sunday, June 4 at 8:00 PM ET/6:00 PM MT before the series shifts to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday, June 7 and Friday, June 9. Games 5, 6, and 7 would take place on Monday, June 12, Thursday, June 15, and Sunday, June 18, if necessary.
The matchup pits Jimmy Butler, one of the few players in the league who can truly put a team on his back, against Nikola Jokic, a two-time, should-be three-time NBA MVP playing perhaps the best basketball of his career.
Who will win the 2023 NBA Finals? For more coverage, be sure to follow Sak Sports Blog on Twitter.
Header Photo Credits: Los Angeles Times
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