The NBA Finals begin tonight!

The Denver Nuggets play the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Tip off is at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC (WJLA-TV in the DMV).

This is the first time the Nuggets have played in the NBA Finals. They have never won an NBA championship or an ABA championship when they were in that league from 1969-1976. For the Heat, this is their seventh trip to the NBA Finals and their first since 2020. The Heat will go for their fourth overall NBA championship and first since 2013.

Miami will also be the first team since the 1999 New York Knicks to play in the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed. In that series, the Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 4-1. On paper, the Nuggets should win this series and their first championship.

Still, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Heat go all the way. At this point, Erik Spoelstra has cemented his place as one of the NBA’s greatest head coaches. He already has won two championships and now made two recent finals runs with teams that weren’t expected to win it all.

Who do you think will win this year’s Finals? Let us know in the comments.