Will Nikola Jokic give Denver a first title? — © AP
Denver and Miami will face each other in the NBA Finals starting at 2:30 AM. The Nuggets can win their first title. The Heat can provide a first by becoming the eighth-seeded team to take the championship. That has never happened before in the NBA.
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Denver finished the regular season, led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, in first place in the Western Conference with 53 wins and 29 losses. In the playoffs, the team from Colorado beat Minnesota (4-1) and Phoenix (4-2) and in the conference final the LA Lakers (4-0) went for the axe. The Lakers previously held Denver out of the Grand Finals in 1985, 2009 and 2020, but LeBron James and co came home from a barren journey this time.
Opponent Miami had a mixed season and only finished seventh in the regular season in the East. It qualified for the play-offs via the ‘play-ins’ and it distanced itself from the Milwaukee of Giannis Antetokounmpo (4-1) and New York (4-2). In a very exciting conference final, a 2022 reissue, Miami and star player Jimmy Butler beat the Boston Celtics 4-3. Miami has won the NBA three times in the past (2006, 2012 and 2013).