Miami Heat (44-38, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (53-29, first in the Western Conference)
Denver; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Nuggets -8.5; over/under is 219.5
NBA FINALS: Nuggets host first series matchup
BOTTOM LINE: The Denver Nuggets host the Miami Heat to open the NBA Finals. Denver went 2-0 against Miami during the regular season. The Nuggets won the last regular season matchup 112-108 on Feb. 14 led by 27 points from Nikola Jokic, while Jimmy Butler scored 24 points for the Heat.
The Nuggets have gone 34-7 at home. Denver is 6-1 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 13.8 turnovers per game.
The Heat are 17-24 on the road. Miami is 9-3 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 12.8 turnovers per game.
The Nuggets score 115.8 points, 6.0 more per game than the 109.8 the Heat allow. The Heat's 12.0 made three-pointers per game this season are 0.2 more made shots on average than the 11.8 per game the Nuggets give up.
The Nuggets have scored at a much higher clip at home than on the road in the 2022-23 season (119.4 at home versus 112.2 on the road), though they have given up fewer points at home than away from home (109.6 opponent points per home game versus 115.3 on the road). The Heat put up more points per game at home (111.4) than on the road (107.5), but also allow more at home (110.2) than away (109.3).
TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray is averaging 27.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, six assists and two steals over the past 10 games for Denver.
Bam Adebayo is scoring 20.4 points per game with 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Heat. Butler is averaging 24.3 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 41.8% over the past 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 8-2, averaging 117.5 points, 43.9 rebounds, 26.3 assists, 7.0 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points per game.
Heat: 6-4, averaging 107.2 points, 40.2 rebounds, 23.4 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.2 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: None listed.
Heat: Victor Oladipo: out for season (knee), Tyler Herro: out (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
