Los Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat will open this Thursday Finales NBA 2023a clash of the ‘First times‘ in which the Colorado franchise will fight for the first ring in its 47-year history and the Florida franchise will have the challenge of being the first champion to start the playoffs as the eighth seed.
On the hunt for the NBA ring in the first Finals in its history. This is how special the opportunity is for the Denver Nuggets, led by Serbian Nikola Jokic, who reach the title series as the best in the Western Conference in the regular season and after losing only three games in their rounds against the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1), the Phoenix Suns (4-2) and the Los Angeles Lakers (4-0 sweep).
Undefeated at home in the playoffs and with the home court factor in their favor in these Finals, the Nuggets have risen to the best possible version of a huge Nikola Jokic who averages a triple-double in these ‘playoffs’: 29.9 points , 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists and with a great success (53.8% in field goals and 47.4% in triples).
Already recovered from his knee injury that caused him to miss all of last season, Jamal Murray has returned in style to lead Jokic’s companions on this adventure: Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Bruce Brown Jr.
In a ‘playoffs’ marked by surprises, inconsistent teams, ups and downs in every game and players who appear and disappear, the Nuggets coached by Mike Malone have been the most consistent, solid and reliable team.
In addition, they come to these Finals with a clear head and rested legs since they have had nine days off since they crushed the Lakers.
On the other hand, the Heat, true revelation of the year, landed in Denver with only two days to recover from the epic final of the East against the Boston Celtics and with very little time to acclimatize to a factor that could be very important in these Finals: the height, since the city of the Nuggets is located at 1,608 meters above sea level.
However, the Heat have become accustomed to reversing the forecasts in this postseason, in which they reached the Finals after overcoming two rounds of the ‘play-in’ and eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks (4-1), the best team in the league. league, the New York Knicks (4-2) and the Celtics (4-3).
The series against Boston ended with a monumental victory for the Heat at the TD Garden (104-83), after their rivals came close to a miracle never seen before, coming back from a series after losing 0-3.
Jimmy Butler is the absolute leader of the Heat on the court and leads a group of players who, far from the status and rosters of NBA superstars, are performing at their highest level.
These are players not chosen in the draft such as Caleb Martin (26 points in Game 7 against the Celtics), Gabe Vincent, Max Strus or Duncan Robinson, who lived moments of glory in this magnificent postseason in Miami.
The unity of the locker room is the great strength of a team excellently organized by coach Erik Spoelstra, who reached his sixth Finals in Miami.
He has two titles to his credit, in 2012 and 2013, and established himself as one of the best coaches in the NBA.
The Finals will be broadcast in more than 200 countries and in 60 different languages starting this Thursday, with the first game at the Ball Arena in Denver.
With information from EFE
2023-05-31 18:17:05
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