NBA Finals Game 1 – (8) Miami Heat at (1) Denver Nuggets, Thursday 8:30 ET on ABC.
The Nuggets swept the West Finals, while the Heat went 7 games in the East Finals. This is the 8th time the Finals features a team that swept vs a team that went 7 games in the prior round:
Teams coming off a sweep are 5-2 in Game 1 of the Finals.
Teams coming off a sweep are 4-3 overall in the series.
The Nuggets have 7 extra days of rest entering the series compared to the Heat. That’s tied for the 2nd-largest ever entering a Finals. Teams with at least 7 days of extra rest are 3-2 in the series and 4-1 in Game 1.
Miami vs Denver This Season
The teams traveled extremely different roads to reach the Finals. Miami has now faced three of the top-four teams in the NBA from the regular season, while Denver has faced three teams from the Play-In Tournament.
The Nuggets won both regular season meetings between the teams this year (124-119 in Denver on Dec. 30, 112-108 in Miami on Feb. 13).
Nikola Jokic averaged a triple-double (23 PPG, 12 RPG, 10 APG).
Jamal Murray did not play in the Feb. win in Miami.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo both averaged 20.5 PPG, though neither shot particularly well (Butler – 41.9%,
Adebayo – 42.9%).
Overall, the Nuggets have won 9 of the past 10 meetings over the last 5 seasons. Their only loss was on Aug. 1, 2020, in each team’s first game of the 2020 Bubble. This matchup is both Miami’s worst record against any opponent and Denver’s best against any opponent in the last 5 years.
Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets Fun Facts
Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray & Jimmy Butler are all averaging 25 PPG, 5 RPG & 5 APG entering the Finals. It’s the first Finals to feature 3 players averaging 25-5-5 entering the series. It’s only the 4th to feature opposing players to do this.
Erik Spoelstra is the 2nd-longest tenured active head coach with a team. Michael Malone is the 4th-longest tenured active head coach with a team. This is the 4th NBA Finals since the NBA-ABA Merger (1976-77) to feature 2 of the top-4 longest tenured active head coaches with a team.
Lots more on this series coming up today on Shemon and Sheppard 2-6pm.
