The NBA Finals feature Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, with both stars looking to win their first NBA championship. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski, AP Photo)
Harford County high school basketball coaches seem to share common ground dissecting this year’s NBA Finals, pitting the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
To get to this point, top-seeded Denver knifed through western conference foes Minnesota, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers. None of which, required more than six games to advance. The Heat, however, needed every last second of a play-in game against Chicago to make the playoffs as an eight seed. Miami deftly handled Milwaukee in five games but needed six and a hair-pulling seven to pass New York and Boston.
Game 1 tips off 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Here’s how a few Harford County coaches are seeing the matchup.
Brian Hulka, Fallston boys
Hulka just wrapped up his eighth season leading the Cougars and he’s confident the Heat can put up a fight. Hulka is taking Denver to close out the series in six games.
“Bam Adebayo will frustrate [two-time Most Valuable Player Nikola] Jokic,” Hulka said. “But the Nuggets are rested, healthy and have superior talent.”
Denver completed its sweep of the Lakers back on May 22. That’s a 10-day gap between playoff games, compared to Miami’s three-day break. Health has also been a past hindrance of this year’s overwhelming favorite. Point guard Jamal Murray missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season with an ACL tear while Michael Porter Jr. has undergone three back surgeries in five years; both are crucial pieces to what could be Denver’s championship puzzle.
Mario Scott, C. Milton Wright boys
Scott hedged his own thinking. He wants to predict Denver in five but said he has too much respect for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who famously rose the ranks, starting in the organization as a video coordinator in 1995 and named head coach in 2008. Scott’s pick is Nuggets in six for a few reasons.
“Nikola Jokic is by far the best player in this series and he may very well average a triple-double in the series,” Scott said. “To that end, I think Miami is going to have to make adjustments in their lineup, to include potentially starting Kevin Love or Cody Zeller to try to mitigate Jokic’s effectiveness as much as they possibly can. If they can play, it will help Miami’s matchups across the board. If not, things will get tough fast.”
Rebounding should be a decisive factor considering the size differences of the two teams, according to the Mustangs’ first-year coach. Advantage Nuggets there. He’s also looking for pick-and-roll adjustments. Miami frequently torched Boston — a team that switches everything — by hunting mismatches.
Three-point shooting will be the other stat to watch. Scott said, “To have any chance to win, Miami is going to have to win the 3-point battle. They did a great job of that in Game 7 at Boston, [shooting 50% from deep].”
Scott’s two players aside from the stars to look out for? Denver forward Aaron Gordon, a defensive stalwart who could give Jimmy Butler a hard time. And Caleb Martin for the Heat, who has been an unexpected premiere scorer in their playoff run.
Johnny Woods, Fallston girls
Denver will close out the series in six games, according to Woods. He’s leaning on the star power in this series, which favors Denver.
“Miami has done the unthinkable,” Woods said. “Jimmy Buckets is clearly one of the best playoff performers in the history of the NBA but the ‘Joker’ [Jokic] is the best in the world right now. Not to mention Murray looks like the playoff bubble Murray.”
Murray has been one of the playoff’s most gripping stories. He famously played at a very high level during the 2020 NBA bubble playoffs at Disney World in Orlando. He then tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Having his 27.7 points, 5.9 and 4.9 rebounds in this playoff run as Denver’s second best player makes him a key cog in the organization’s first Finals trip since joining the league in 1976.
Woods said, “The Denver franchise will win their first championship.”
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Originally published at Tribune News Service