NUGGETS CANCEL FLIGHT PLAN TO BOSTON

MANILA, Philippines — Cancel that flight plan, Denver. Turns out, the NBA Finals are starting in the Mile High City after all. And Jimmy Butler was proven right.

Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The Heat got there by winning Game 7 of the East title series in Boston on Monday night. It came one year to the day after the Celtics won a Game 7 on Miami’s floor to win the East title a year ago.

“Next year, we will have enough and we’re going to be right back in the same situation, and we’re going to get it done,” Butler vowed that night.

The Heat made those words prophetic.

The Nuggets had a flight to Boston tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, just in case they would be facing the Celtics – who would have had home-court advantage in the title series.

But the Heat had other ideas, won the deciding game to avoid becoming the first team in NBA history to fall after claiming a 3-0 series lead, and Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets now await.

2023-05-30T16:43:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd