NBA: Denver Nuggets favoured over Miami Heat in NBA Finals

The Miami Heat will head to Denver to take on the Nuggets in game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 1 after winning the Eastern Conference and defeating the Boston Celtics in game 7. The eighth seeded Heat and number one seed Nuggets have now secured their spots in the NBA Finals, earning a shot at the 2022-2023 NBA championship. Both teams will be looking to make history. This is the first time the Nuggets have made the NBA Finals, and the Heat are looking to become the first team in NBA history to win the title as the eighth seed.

Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets series

The Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets are the betting favourites on NBA betting sites ahead of this series. The Nuggets have -400 odds to win the series on BetMGM. The Eastern Conference champion Heat are the underdogs at +310. Both teams have had a tough road to reach the finals. The Heat defeated the Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, the teams with the best odds to win the championship before the playoffs started, stunning the NBA world on their way through the east. Although the Nuggets were among the betting favourites to win the west, they were not the favourite. They defeated the Phoenix Suns who were the favourites to win the west.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are favourites to win the NBA title. This will be the first time the Nuggets franchise had reached the NBA Finals. This team has been dominant throughout the entire playoffs, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers and defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns in five and six games. So far, it might be safe to say no team has looked like a real threat to the Nuggets. This will be Nikola Jokic’s first NBA Finals. The former two-time MVP will probably need to continue playing at an elite level for his team to win the series.

Jokic has been dominant throughout the playoffs. This will also be Jamal Murray’s first NBA Finals. After missing the last two postseasons due to injury, Murray hasn’t shown much rust or regression. Murray is averaging 27.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.5 rebounds. The Heat’s defense was able to slow down Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Nuggets also have depth, with players like Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Bruce Brown, but it’s tough to imagine the Nuggets losing if Jokic and Murray both have a big series.

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat throughout this playoffs have been led by huge performances by Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, and solid contributions from their role players. This postseason, Eastern Conference Finals MVP Butler is averaging 28.5 points, 7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 2.1 steals. Butler has played like a superstar in these playoffs, and he will need to stay at that level if the Heat hope to have a chance in the series. For context, LeBron James averaged 27.5 points per game against the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, so Butler should be able to have some success against the Nuggets defense.

The Heat role players will have a huge say in the outcome of this series. Caleb Martin, Max Strus, and Duncan Robinson  are three players that have been big contributors for the Heat during this run and shouldn’t be overlooked. If these three continue to play well, the Heat should have a chance to win this series. The Nuggets are the favourites, but the Heat have finals experience. Kyle Lowry is an NBA champion and a few of the guys from the team that made the finals in 2020 are still there. The Nuggets don’t have this kind of finals experience.