NBA
How many rest days will the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets have had before the NBA finals?
The Heat’s Eastern Conference Final against the Celtics went to Game 7, while the Nuggets stormed past the Lakers to reach the NBA Finals.
The Boston Celtics’ bid to make history is over after losing Game 7 in their thrilling series against the Miami Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. On Saturday, Derrick White’s tip-in right on the buzzer allowed the Cs to come back from 0-3 and force a decider. However, that was where it ended for Joe Mazzulla and his team as the Heat romped to a 103-84 victory in Boston on Monday to progress to the NBA Finals, where they will face the Denver Nuggets.
Celtics failed to make history in Heat defeat
Miami’s win at TD Garden means that we have still never seen an NBA team come back from 0-3 to win a seven-game series. While there are three previous instances of teams clawing back that deficit, neither the New York Knicks in 1951, nor the Nuggets in 1994, nor the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003 ultimately emerged victorious.
Miami Heat’s gruelling schedule
With attention now turning to the NBA Finals against the Nuggets, the logical thought is that the gruelling seven-game schedule is unlikely to help the Heat, especially when we look across to see what their opponents have been up to in the last little while.
The Nuggets prevailed in the Western Conference Finals with the minimum of fuss, dispatching the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0. All four matches were relatively tight affairs, but the reality is that Nikola Jokić and his teammates were able to put their feet up and look on as the Celtics and the Heat slogged it out for the remaining Finals berth.
Nuggets fresh for NBA Finals
The Nuggets’ fourth and final win in the series came on Monday 22 May, 10 days before the NBA Finals are due to get underway on Thursday 1 June. By contrast, the first game of the Finals tip off just 72 hours after the Eastern Conference decider began on Monday 29 May. The Heat will have only two full rest days compared to the Nuggets’ nine.
The alternative point of view is that Monday’s winners will still be in the zone having never left fight mode. What’s better? Time will tell.