Well half of the Conference Finals was over in convincing 4 game fashion with the Nuggets pounding the helpless Lakers, while over in the East, it was a 7 game grind it out ordeal with Boston becoming only the 4th team in NBA history to tie a series after being down 0-3 and the 151st team not to come all the way back to win after being down 0-3. Instead, the Miami Heat once again defied expectations and advanced to the finals downing the Celtics 4 games to 3.
Out West, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray did most of the damage but they were assisted ably by Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic was sublime finishing game 4 with a triple double 30, 14 and 13. As one of the TNT commentators said, ‘he can’t run, he can’t jump and no one can stop him’.
On the other side of the ball, the Lakers gave it everything they had, including LeBron James sinking 40 points in a losing effort in game 4. Both he and Anthony Davis managed to stay reasonably healthy for the entire series, which was a bit of a surprise, but they simply had no answer too many times for Jokic.
In the East, Playoff Jimmy led the Heat to a 3-0 advantage before Boston finally woke up. But he had help. Bam was good as expected but the real unsung hero of the series wasn’t Tyler, but rather Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent who gave wayyyyyy more than expected and more than the competition could handle. Kyle Lowry had his moments as well, but they were minor moments.
Meanwhile, the Boston pairing of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown could not get things going until game 4 when it was too little too late to support the unprecedented comeback. Boston’s lot was not improved when Grant Williams decided to challenge Jimmy nose to nose. There’s an old expression about poking a bear.
And all this brings us to a most unusual finals, Denver vs Miami, starting tonight in Denver. Miami will be fresh off the fight with Boston while Denver has had nearly 10 days to rest and recuperate. Will they still be fresh? Yes, they will. This is Jokic’s year. Denver in 4 or 5.