The 2023 NBA Finals is set to begin on Thursday, June 1st between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. Let’s preview how this series may play out and where each team could gain an advantage.
Home Court Advantage
The Denver Nuggets will have home-court advantage in this series as the No. 1 seed from the West. The Heat as the No. 8 seed from the East wouldn’t have had home-court advantage over any team from the West.
Big Men
A glaring advantage for Denver is with their big men. Nikola Jokic may be the best big in the league if not the best player period. Miami lacks size with Bam Adebayo being the only big who played the last couple of games for Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals. Adebayo also has struggled at times during the playoffs.
Shooting
The Miami Heat have had a ridiculous shooting run that has helped get them to this point. It may look closer on paper but the Heat are hotter shooting from deep and it could be the advantage they need to win this final series.
Defense
The edge here goes to Miami. They play great team defense and have some standout individual defenders as well. Denver has some good individual defenders too but a couple of weak points.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikola_Jokic_free_throw.jpg
