NBA Finals 2023: Expert Predictions for Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets

The NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets open Thursday night (8:30 pm ET, on ESPN Deportes and on ESPN+). Everything is set for Game 1 and our experts make their predictions within hours of the ball being released in the air at Ball Arena.

MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2023 NBA Finals

Sebastian Martinez Christensen: Denver is the third-top seed in the last 20 years in an NBA Finals, and they are 9-1 against Miami in the past five seasons. If you’re the Heat, you can’t defend much in the zone, because Nikola Jokic would make you pay dearly. The plan should be to contain Jamaal Murray and allow Jokic to play 1v1, since his main nature is not to score. I don’t underestimate the Heat, who I think will sell dearly to lose, but the Nuggets are a deeper roster, with better health and home court advantage. Nuggets in 6 games.

Katia Castorena: I think the Nuggets must win the NBA Finals. They have been the consistent team throughout the season as the number one team in the West, they have their leader Nikola Jokic, a two-time NBA MVP, who is averaging triple-double per series and a Jamal Murray who has found his best version post knee injury. Denver has their entire group healthy, they are playing at a high level as the best offense in this postseason and they have managed to lead the Nuggets franchise to the first Finals in its history. I believe that the elements are there for 2023 to be the year of Denver.

Bruno Altieri: I’ll be honest: I don’t have a clear favorite. I believe that Denver reaches these Finals better, especially for having a generational talent like Nikola Jokic. But Miami carries the experience in these instances and with a recent past as a giant-killer that allows it to dream. The Nuggets have had a full season of luxury and the Heat a playoffs like no other. They went from Cinderella to luxury protagonists. We just have to enjoy.

Carlos Nava: The Nuggets have been on vacation for a long time with the desire to meet their rival and start the NBA Finals. Perhaps for many that is the main concern, the loss of rhythm. But they have too much of a team, led by Nikola Jokic, to lose to the Miami Heat, who arrive motivated after finally eliminating Boston. However, this must have had its physical and mental cost for a team that has reached the Finals since the Play-In Tournament and has not won in Denver since 2015, where the Nuggets also have home-field advantage due to their best record. in regular season. The Nuggets are crowned champions in five games. Nuggets in 5 games.

Pablo Cormick: Las Finals should be won by Denver Nuggets because not only was it much better than the Miami Heat in the regular season, but it also performed at a very high level in the playoffs. He has in Nikola Jokic the best player of the moment, home advantage and the desire to get the first ring in his history. Favorite? “In the Finals there is no favorite,” Jokic said. Jimmy Butler and his undfrated gang will try one more hit.

Víctor O. López: Hats off to Riley, Spoelstra, Butler and company, but their Cinderella advance ends against a Nuggets who served as No. 1 in the West and have in Nikola Jokic a transcendental player with the ball in hand. Escorted by Jamal Murray, Jokic leads the Nuggets to their first championship. Denver and 5.

Leo Montero: Both Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokic deserve to be champions. They are players very loved by the fans. The Heat are the Cinderella of the playoffs and the Denver Nuggets are the number 1 conference most underrated by critics. In short, if the Heat win, it will be because of their defense, their character, their great coach and because they play with nothing to lose. If the Nuggets win, it will be the coronation of who for the majority is the best player of the moment. A team that defends, runs, hits triples and plays at a high level. Lots of magic. Whoever wins will honor the game and that’s worth a lot!!! #Oh Lord

Marcelo Bousquet: Denver in 6 games. The Nuggets have all the necessary weapons to be champions: a leader in Nikola Jokic who is also the most dominant player in the competition. A luxury squire in Jamal Murray and supporting actors like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Jeff Green and Bruce Brown. If we add to that the fact that they have a home-field advantage, their status as favorite is strengthened: they have not lost any of their 8 home games (+96 margin, which gives an average of 12.0 points per game). They have also won 4 of the 6 games played away from home. Do you understand why the scales tip in favor of Denver?