NBA Finals: Nuggets Ready to Roll in Showdown With the Heat
Containing Nikola Jokic will be a tall task for the tough, disruptive Heat, too tall a task to keep a long-overdue title from reaching the Rockies
By James Jefferson
The 2023 NBA Finals are going to be quite fascinating.
This is a series full of stories, maybe not the most obvious and glamorous stories the league has to offer, but it has plenty of stories coming from both of its teams.
On one side there’s the Denver Nuggets, the Western Conference Champions — an absolute juggernaut of a team, led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who has been SPECTACULAR during this postseason, averaging a triple double (30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists). Jokic is seconded by superstar guard Jamal Murray who is averaging 28 points per game. This will be one hell of a duo to go against.
Nuggets’ Finals Journey
Denver has had a choke-hold on the Western Conference since Christmas. That’s about the time they claimed the No. 1 seed out West. They haven’t given it up since.
On their way to the NBA Finals, the Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round, then barreled through Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in six games in the Western Conference semifinals. Then, in the Western Conference Finals, they saved their most dominant performance, sweeping LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers out the postseason.
Outside of the WCF games, it may be hard for even true basketball enthusiasts to remember much from Denver’s championship run thus far. Extending their low profile — with the Serbian star who can sort of speak English, the No. 2 option who barely speaks and most of their tip-offs coming at 8 p.m. instead of 7 or 9 — this team can really be seen as the least-talked about No. 1 seed in NBA history.
Plus, there were so many teams across the league who were greedy with the limelight, regardless of how much they deserved it, and it led many NBA commentators to remain high on the likes of the Lakers, the Suns, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors in spite of all the winning Denver was doing.
But the Nuggets confidently ignored all the noise and dominated their competition. Now, their opponent? It was purely the opposite.
Heat’s Finals Journey
Eternally doing it for “the culture,” the Miami Heat faced an unexpectedly-uphill battle the entire 2022-23 season.
One year after its fierce star, Jimmy Butler, led the Heat to the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed and the brink of the NBA Finals, they took the scenic route to the Finals by willing their way to the most unlikely conference championship run in NBA history.
The Heat are only the second No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals, and unlike the previous team to do that (1999 New York Knicks) the Heat had to play two play-in tournament games and make an improbable last-minute comeback against the Chicago Bulls to even secure that lowest playoff seed.
From there, all the Heat have done is win.
First, there was the impressive upset of the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in five games, as dominant a series as a No. 8 has ever played. Bucks superstar Giannis Antentekumpo missed Games 2 and 3 of that series with a back injury, which turned the series upside down and made the Heat see blood. In round two, the Heat reveled in the reigniting of their playoff rivalry with the Knicks and eventually did them away in six games.
Another rivalry was at hand in the Eastern Conference Finals with a rematch against the Celtics. Boston took down the Heat in seven thrilling games a year ago and Miami looked to avoid the same fate this year. With their foot on the gas, they stormed out to a 3-0 lead against the No. 2-seeded Celtics.
Fueled by its own brand of culture and pride and powered by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics regained some of the magic that has made them a playoff mainstay over the past several years.
In winning Games 4 through 6 to tie the series 3-3, the Celtics seemingly secured a new place in history after 150 previous NBA teams failed to come from behind in 0-3 situations. The buzzer-beating tip-in from Derrick White to force Game 7 looked like the first sentence in the epitaph for the Heat’s playoff run of destiny.
As it turned out the series’ decisive game was another showcase for what makes the Heat unique as a franchise in today’s NBA. In their runaway, 103-84 win over Boston, Miami showed an ability to rise to the occasion that proved how much they actually belong in this Finals series, which tips off this evening.
The Heat are a big betting underdog in this series, but anyone who follows the NBA from year to year can’t be surprised that Miami is once again the last men standing to represent the East.
Who wins?
While the Heat are worthy, don’t expect them to do enough to overcome the Denver Nuggets in this one. In fact, we have the Nuggets over the Heat in a sweep, for the simple fact that Denver’s roster is deeper, more explosive, they have the best player overall and they have home court advantage.
Its hard to see the Heat stopping both Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for four games. Stopping one would be a tall task, and it likely won’t still be enough. The time has come for the highest altitude in the NBA to finally stand above all others.
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