National Basketball Association

Are the Miami Heat being 'dangerously underestimated' in NBA Finals?

Published Jun. 1, 2023 4:49 p.m. ET

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All eyes will be on Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets and the No. 8 seed Miami Heat, which gets underway Thursday night in the Mile High City.

Denver will be making its first NBA Finals appearance, while Miami — which is just the second No. 8 seed to reach an NBA Finals — will make a league-best seventh appearance since 2006, winning championships in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

The Nuggets are favored over the Heat in Game 1 by 8.5 points, per FOX Bet. Since 1991, teams that are seven-to-nine-point underdogs in the NBA Finals are 18-9-1 against the spread (66.7%).

That line didn't sit well with Skip Bayless, who believes the Heat have been "dangerously underrated and underestimated" throughout the entirety of the playoffs. 

"I have gained huge respect for the Nuggets, especially for their best player, but I am going Heat in six (games) because of another concept … Cinderella," Bayless said on Thursday's "Undisputed." "When have we ever, ever had a Cinderella [team] in the NBA Finals? It just doesn't happen because it can't happen. … All of a sudden, March Madness has become June madness!

"There's something about this Heat team that feels like team of destiny to me," Bayless added. "They have caught fire right on schedule. Who thought they could beat Boston? Who thought they could go to Boston and win Games 1 and 2? Not you, not anybody. Not even me. … Who thought the Miami Heat, not I, could go up there and win a Game 7 in Boston? And not just win it — blow them [the Celtics] off their home floor. Nobody!"

Shannon Sharpe wasn't as convinced, although he also believes the series will end in six games.

"I just think the dynamic duo of Jamal Murray and [Jokić] will be too much [to overcome]," Sharpe countered.

When both teams take the floor Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET, it will be the Nuggets' first action in 10 days. On the other side, the Heat traveled directly from Massachusetts after closing out their latest series against the Boston Celtics on Monday.

Miami's odds to win it all were an extremely long +4000 after All-Star weekend. The Heat went on to battle through two play-in tournament games just to secure a playoff berth. Miami shocked the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the postseason, winning the series 4-1. Then, the Heat beat the New York Knicks in six games and the Celtics in seven games to reach this year's NBA Finals. 

On the other side, Denver took out the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games and the Phoenix Suns in six games, before sweeping LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the penultimate round.

Games 1 and 2 are in Denver before the series heads to Miami for Games 3 and 4.

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