Schedule set for Denver Nuggets upcoming NBA Finals series, opponent will be Miami Heat or Boston Celtics
The Denver Nuggets have a long wait until their first-ever NBA Finals game. When the league announced the schedule for the last series of this year's playoffs, they chose June 1 as the date for Game 1. That decision was made last month, well before it looked like there might be two sweeps in the league conference championship rounds.
After a nail-biter of a win on Monday night, the Nuggets are taking their Western Conference Championship trophy back to Colorado. It'll be eight days before they play again.
Precious cargo on its way back to Denver!
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) May 23, 2023
Western Conference Champions AND THE NUGGETS ARE NOT DONE YET!!! pic.twitter.com/x03OJF8MgU
Denver completed its first-ever postseason series sweep on Monday. It is the first finals berth in franchise history, and also the first time the Nuggets have ever defeated the Lakers in a playoff series.
HISTORY MADE:
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) May 23, 2023
✅ FIRST NBA FINALS BERTH
✅ FIRST SERIES WIN OVER THE LAKERS
✅ FIRST PLAYOFF SWEEP
THESE DENVER NUGGETS ARE SOMETHING SPECIAL.
Out in the Eastern Conference, the final round could end on Thursday night. The Miami Heat lead the Boston Celtics 3-1 and play Game 5 at TD Garden in Boston.
If the Heat win that series, Game 1 of the NBA Finals would be at Ball Arena in Denver. If the Celtics are able to come back and win it in unprecedented fashion, Game 1 would take place in Boston (because the Celtics had a better regular season record than the Nuggets).
The tipoff time for all of the games in the NBA Finals is 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time. (That differs from the later start times of seasons past.) Here's the full schedule, minus the locations -- which are still up in the air:
NBA Finals Game 1: Thursday, June 1
NBA Finals Game 2: Sunday, June 4
NBA Finals Game 3: Wednesday, June 7
NBA Finals Game 4: Friday, June 9
NBA Finals Game 5: Monday, June 12 (if necessary)
NBA Finals Game 6: Thursday, June 15 (if necessary)
NBA Finals Game 7: Sunday, June 17 (if necessary)
In the visiting team's locker room at Crypto.com Arena after Monday's 113-111 win, CBS Sports anchor Romi Bean asked Nuggets shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: "I know it's awesome to get a sweep, but now you've got 10 days till Game 1. What are you going to do to stay fresh?"
"We're going to take us a little break. We deserve it. You know, get a couple of days off, then get back to business," said KCP. "We're not done yet. We've got four games left, and we want to be crowned champions."
Was Caldwell-Pope predicting a sweep in the NBA Finals? It wouldn't be the first time that has happened, but he probably just meant that the team will win it all if they can get four more victories.