By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
DENVER — Nikola Jokic wasn’t supposed to be here. Neither was Jimmy Butler, for that matter.
Jokic was drafted behind 40 other players in 2014. Butler was drafted behind 29 others in 2011. Jokic grew up in Serbia, not even thinking about the NBA. Butler didn’t have the easiest upbringing in Texas, then went the junior college route at the start of his journey toward the pros.
Yet here they are in the NBA Finals.
One of them will become a champion for the first time, with Jokic leading the Denver Nuggets and Butler leading the Miami Heat in a matchup that starts Thursday night in Denver, with the Nuggets heavily favored to win it all.
“This is going to be the hardest game of our life, and we know that,” Jokic said. “We are prepared for that. We are prepared for that. So, I think there is no favorite. Definitely, I think we are not favorites in this series. I think they’re not either. I think it’s just the finals.”
The Nuggets – in the Finals for the first time – had by far the easier road to the title round. They climbed atop the Western Conference standings in mid-December and never fell from that perch, then lived up to that No. 1 seed by going 12-3 in the playoffs.
Miami – a seven-time finalist now, seeking a fourth title – had about the rockiest path to the Rocky Mountains that a team could have. The Heat had to rally in a play-in elimination game just to make the playoffs, knocked out No. 1 overall seed Milwaukee in Round 1, rival New York in the second round and then just had to go win a Game 7 in Boston, after nearly wasting a 3-0 lead, to vanquish last season’s loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
“This is a special group,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted them to go. And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively, and give us something to rally around, which was each other.”
At 44-38 this season, Miami would tie the worst regular-season record ever by an NBA champion. The Washington Bullets had that record and won the 1978 title. There were 10 teams that finished this season with better records than Miami – nine of them are no longer playing – and 589 teams in NBA history that had better regular seasons than the 2022-23 Heat yet still didn’t win a title.
They are improbable finalists. Their leader took an improbable path, too. But after stints with Chicago, Philadelphia and Minnesota didn’t always go as planned, Butler is now in the Finals with Miami for a second time in four years.
“I would like to say that I’m never rattled. I’m very calm,” Butler said. “I’m very consistent in everything that I do, whether it’s before the game, after the game, during the game, and I think when my guys look at me like that, they follow suit in every single way. I love that about them because they’re never shook. No matter what.”
It’s not about Jokic vs. Butler; both have big-time players around them as well, namely Jamal Murray for Denver and Bam Adebayo for Miami. Jokic and Butler are the two leading scorers left in these playoffs; Jokic is averaging 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists, while Butler is averaging 28.5 per game – including a playoff-high 56 to help oust the Bucks.
Jokic is a two-time league MVP, was in the conversation for a third in a row this year, has seen about every defense imaginable and rarely blinks at any of them. Play off him, he’ll shoot and score. Play tight, he’ll set up someone for an easier shot. He’s as close to fundamental perfection as there might be in the league right now. Not bad for a guy who got drafted while the broadcast was airing a Taco Bell commercial – true story – and never thought he’d make the NBA when he arrived in the U.S.
“With Nikola, it’s never about looking backward. It’s always about looking forward and challenging himself to become the best player that he can be,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Early on, being the best player he could be was not necessarily about a skill set. It was about maturing, growing up, handling adversity, dealing with the referees, getting into the best shape of his life, losing weight. I think once that all happened, that kind of coincided with our rise.”
The team that plays at the highest altitude in the NBA – 5,280 feet above sea level – has risen to its highest level yet. Jokic is four wins from his first ring. Butler is four wins from the ring he has been talking about getting all year, even when Miami’s record didn’t exactly suggest the Heat would be here.
But here they are. The West finals MVP in Jokic. The East finals MVP in Butler. The prize they want most is just four wins away.
“In a lot of ways, what they have done is unprecedented,” Miami forward Kevin Love said. “Obviously, they operate in different ways to get the job done. But still, all things considered, I think they’re two very underappreciated stars and superstars in this league.”
SCOUTING REPORT: HEAT (44-38, 12-6) vs. NUGGETS (53-29, 12-3)
How they got here: No. 8 seed Heat – beat top seed Milwaukee, 4-1, beat No. 5 seed New York, 4-2, beat No. 2 Boston, 4-3. Top seed Nuggets – beat No. 8 Minnesota, 4-1; beat No. 4 Phoenix, 4-2; beat No. 7 Lakers, 4-0.
Season series: Nuggets won, 2-0. Denver’s two victories came by a combined nine points, with a 124-119 home win on Dec. 30 and a 112-108 victory in Miami on Feb. 13.
Schedule: Thursday and Sunday at Denver, June 7 and 9 at Miami, x-June 12 at Denver, x-June 15 at Miami, x-June 18 at Denver
x = if necessary
Starters: Heat – F Jimmy Butler, F Caleb Martin, C Bam Adebayo, G Max Strus, G Gabe Vincent; Nuggets – F Michael Porter Jr., F Aaron Gordon, C Nikola Jokic, G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G Jamal Murray.
Key reserves: Heat – F Kevin Love, F Haywood Highsmith, F Duncan Robinson, C Cody Zeller, G Kyle Lowry; Nuggets – F Bruce Brown, F Jeff Green, F Christian Braun
Storyline: The Nuggets have cruised to the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history behind Jokic, the two-time league MVP who is averaging 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists in the postseason. The Heat are here for the seventh time, though this is their most surprising trip. Minutes away from missing the playoffs entirely, they went on to become just the second No. 8 seed to reach the Finals, joining the New York Knicks in 1999.
Injury watch: Miami’s Tyler Herro, out since breaking his hand in the postseason opener against Milwaukee, has been working out in hopes of playing in this series.
Numbers of note: The Heat haven’t won in Denver since Nov. 30, 2016. … Denver is 8-0 at home in the postseason and has won six straight overall since being tied 2-2 with the Suns. … The Heat have won Game 1 on the road in all three series thus far. … In Jokic and Murray (27.7 ppg), the Nuggets have two of the top nine scorers in this postseason. Butler (28.5) is seventh. … Miami’s bench has outscored its opponents by 213 points in the postseason. … The Heat lost their past two home games after winning their first six of the postseason.
Prediction: Denver is a nine-point favorite in Game 1, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. But with the Nuggets perhaps rusty since finishing off the Lakers on May 22, the Heat might have another chance to open with a road win. Even if they do, this time it won’t matter. Jokic and Murray are on too much of a roll to be stopped now. It took Denver a long time to get to the NBA Finals, but it will be worth the wait. NUGGETS IN SIX.
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report.
