NBA Finals Schedule 2023: Dates, Start Times, TV Info for Heat vs. Nuggets
The official NBA Finals schedule has been released after the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday.
They'll meet the Denver Nuggets, who took down the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-game sweep in the Western Conference Finals.
Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints relayed the information from the NBA:
Game 1 will go down on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET in Denver's Ball Arena.
The Heat are the second No. 8 seed to make the NBA Finals after the 1999 New York Knicks first accomplished the feat.
They needed to win a do-or-die play-in tournament game with the Chicago Bulls just to get to the playoffs. Once there, Miami stunned the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in a five-game first-round series win. The Heat then took care of the No. 5 seed Knicks in six games.
The Eastern Conference Finals matchup looked like it would be a rout after the Heat won their first three games against the C's, but Boston stormed back to tie the series at three.
However, Miami easily dispatched the Celtics in Game 7 thanks to 28 points from Jimmy Butler and a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double via Caleb Martin.
Denver has enjoyed a far easier run to the NBA Finals as the Western Conference's No. 1 seed. The Nuggets first beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games before facing a tough Phoenix Suns squad led by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
Denver took care of the Suns, though, winning in six games after punctuating the series with a 125-100 victory.
The Nuggets then swept the Lakers thanks to phenomenal performances from two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray.
For the playoffs, Jokić has averaged 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists, posting eight triple-doubles along the way. Murray has averaged 27.7 points, including 32.5 PPG versus the Lakers.
Denver is in the NBA Finals for the first time since it joined the league after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. The Heat made the NBA Finals six times before this season, winning in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
