NBA Playoffs 2023.

[SeaBreeze341]

Someone close to me just said that they can't take a Game 7.  Can't blame her, especially after that ending.  No need to.  It's not about when Boston wins on Monday; it's the fact that the Celtics will be breaking the tie with the Lakers to get to title number 18

[moneygamelover]

And the Miami Heat are your 2023 Eastern Conference Champions after a surprisingly lopsided 103-84 game 7 road win in which a strong start to the 4th 1/4 told the final story as the Heat get 28 from Jimmy Butler and 26 from Caleb Martin as Butler wins East Finals MVP. So we'll either see the Niggets win their 1st Championship in franchise history or the Heat become the 1st ever 8 seed NBA Champion. What a win for the Heat!.

[mellongraig]

Well, it wasn't meant to be for the Boston Celtics... they lost one game too many and had too much of a hole to overcome after coming from behind in deficits before in previous playoff series, even though in Game 6 they forced a Game 7 by 0.1 second on the clock. I guess the fourth time was the charm for the Miami Heat after failing to close it out three times before.

So close, and yet so far for 3-0 deficits in the NBA with it being 0-151, but the South Florida teams both in the NHL and NBA have become the Cinderella teams to watch this postseason.

[SeaBreeze341]

To be fair to Boston, they were pretty young and not seasoned.  Even the greats like MJ, Lebron, and Curry didn't win until later on.  That said, it was only a matter of time before their luck truly ran out.  I imagine in the future, if Boston has home court, they'll start things up 2-0, which will force the other team to have to win most if not all of their games at home while stealing a road game

[SeaBreeze341]

Denver is favored by nine over Miami for Game One, where the over/under is 219.

For the series, the Heat's chances to win are about 3.5 to 1.  Of course, that's subject to change as the series plays out

[moneygamelover]

And the Nuggets win game 1 104-93 behind Joker's 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists as Jamal Murray added 26 points and 10 assists of his own. Ultimately, game 2 is probably going to tell us how much of a shot the Heat have in this series.

[SeaBreeze341]

To be fair to the Heat, Denver had nine days off, a period that started before the East champs had a chance to sweep Boston & earn 8 days off.  Instead they travelled 3 times back and forth between Miami & Boston, though that is not the Nuggets problem.  Now, they're no longer undefeated in the opening game of the series.

That being said, all things equal, I still think Denver would've won Game 1.  It is also possible that the West Champs win each of the next 3 games, but I think it's too early to think it'll be a quick series.  Especially with a couple home games on the other side of the country, and we'll see how Herro's return makes a difference.

Game 2 will tell us more in terms of how this series will play out, but IMO, I think Game 3 (or the first two games in South Beach) will forecast a better story.  IIRC, Golden State ran over Cleveland 7 years ago including a steal of one of the Cavs first 2 home games.

Anyway, this series features teams I totally respect, so I'm hoping for a decent, competitive finals.  The eventual winner will be one I'll be happy with, but I'll be saddened if it's over real quick

[SeaBreeze341]

Well, the series is tied!!

[moneygamelover]

Man, the Heat came to life in the 4th 1/4 scoring 36 points as Duncan Robinson scored 10 quick points to start the 4th 1/4 and Jimmy Butler went on an 8 point run down the stretch.

They had a stat in the postgame show that since the turn of the century only 3 NBA Finals have ended in sweeps. The 3 were Lakers over Nets in 2002 (Dominant Shaq/Kobe team), Spurs over Cavs in 2007 (Young Lebron with no help), and Warriors over Cavs in 2018 (Curry,/Durant/Thompson supertramp and numbskull J.R. Smith)

What's great now is that this series doesn't have any feel of who is in control of it so it feels like it could go either way.

[Richie]

Yeah I smelled NO sweep in this series anyway.   Back to square one for game 3.

[SeaBreeze341]

As mentioned, it was premature to think the series was over after one game, and Miami proved that.  For now.  If Denver wins each of the next three games, then people will say that Miami was fortunate enough to avoid a sweep with a 3-point win.  The Heat struggled in the first game due to the fact that they had no rest & played in those mile high conditions vs a team that was off a week.

As for the history of finals sweeps, it's not much more even if you go back to 1990.  As a matter of fact, over the past 35 years, it's only happened 5 times!

[JarodJGames]

I really wouldn't be surprised if the 2 teams take the series the whole 7 games as this could be a competitive series.

[moneygamelover]

And the Denver Nuggets win game 3 109-94 behind Jokic's 32 points, 21 rebounds, and 10 assists. Not only did Jokic have a triple double but it was a 30-20-10 triple double. Nikola Jokic is totally awesome baby! Nuggets lead the Heat 2 games to 1.

[SeaBreeze341]

Well, there's always Friday & Game 4.  Might help for Miami to win or else, this goes back to not really being a series, honestly

[moneygamelover]

And the Denver Nuggets are on the brink of their 1st ever NBA Championship after a 108-95 game  4 win gives them a 3-1 series lead. With Jokic in foul trouble it was more of a total team effort. Interestingly, the Nuggets don't have a clear cut 2nd best player so when Jokic goes out it has to be a total team effort. I'm predicting confetti and a trophy in Denver on Monday night.