The story of a No.1. seed facing a Play-In survivor doesn't do justice to the title-hungry superstar talent taking the Finals stage.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have led the Nuggets offense to nearly 120 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs so far -- better than the Sacramento Kings ' all-time best regular-season mark and currently the most efficient postseason offense of any team to make it past the conference semifinals.

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat advance to the 2023 NBA Finals when they beat the Boston Celtics by a score of 123-104 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals (on the road in Massachusetts). They will now face off against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets,

No unprecedented comeback, no last-tick miracle, no cavalcade of higher seeds is going to prevent the Miami Heat from playing for the NBA title.

The Heat continued their dream run on Monday, routing the Celtics in Game 7 to become just the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the Finals.

On this date in 2008, the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1987 on their way to Banner 17.

Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The series starts in Denver on Thursday night.