You're all vastly underrating the Heat. Again.
This is The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here's Charles Curtis.
It didn't surprise me when I saw the number: The Denver Nuggets are a whopping -400 to win the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat.
But that's how the Heat seem to like it. They love playing scrappy underdog. They were underdogs heading into Game 7 on Monday against the Boston Celtics, and - just like Jimmy Butler predicted a year ago to the day after an Eastern Conference Finals loss - they got it done.
Now, if I'm making a prediction, I do think Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world, gets it done. Maybe in six or seven.
But even then, I and the rest of the world are underrating this Heat team.
This is a squad that has Jimmy Butler calmly doing it all. One with names like Caleb Martin - he should have been ECF MVP, IMO - Gabe Vincent and Max Strus hardly shrinking under the spotlight of postseason hoops. Duncan Robinson finding his shot again is huge.
Let's add on the fact that Eric Spoelstra is one of the NBA's smartest coaches, that the Heat won in spite of struggles from Bam Adebayo - no one can really stop Jokic, but maybe Bam can keep him relatively in check? - and … there's a chance Tyler Herro comes back to add in some shooting:
So, yeah. Stop underrating the Heat. This isn't some upstart No. 8 seed that's about to get swept in the Finals. They've more than earned the right to be here and should be considered a major threat.
(Whispers: That said, Nuggets in six.)
Quick Hits: Narc Cuban? … Succession finale … and more.
- Mark Cuban asked fans about pirated Heat-Celtics streams and fans made so many jokes about "Narc Cuban."
- Speaking of memes, sad Bill Simmons became one after the Celtics' Game 7 loss.