Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 6/1/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Thursday, June 1, 2023

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: ABC

Odds/Point Spread: Miami (+9)

Ball Arena is the location where the Denver Nuggets will compete against the Miami Heat on Thursday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Miami is 9-point underdogs. The over/under has been set at 218.5.

The Heat faced the Celtics and notched a win by a score of 103-84 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Heat walked away with 15 while the Celtics finished the game with 13 fouls. They made 9 of their 42 tries from beyond the arc. Boston ended up shooting 84.6% when shooting free throws by knocking down 11 of 13 tries. Furthermore, Boston collected 40 boards (10 offensive, 30 defensive) and added 2 blocked shots. Boston recorded 18 dimes and had 6 steals in this game. Pertaining to defending, Miami let their opponent shoot 39.0% from the field on 32 of 82 shooting. They also doled out 26 assists in the matchup as well as forcing 15 turnovers and earning 7 steals. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 42 with 7 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Heat made 5 of their 6 tries for a percentage of 83.3%. Miami ended the game with a 48.8% field goal percentage (42 of 86) and buried 14 of their 28 shots from distance.

Jimmy Butler is one player who was a contributor for the matchup. He had 28 points on 12 out of 28 shooting. He was on the court for 43 minutes played and also grabbed 7 boards. Butler finished the game at 42.9% from the field and totaled 6 assists.

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Miami enters this game with a record of 44-38 so far this year. They cough up possession 13.5 times per game and as a squad they are committing 18.5 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Miami is collecting 40.6 boards per game and has earned 1,955 assists on the season, which is 25th in the NBA in terms of passing. The Heat are connecting on 34.4% on three-point attempts (980 of 2,852) and 83.1% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 109.5 points per contest (30th in the league) while connecting on 46.0% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Heat are forcing their opponents into 15.7 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.0 fouls. They are 14th in the league in allowing assists to the opposition with 2,097 surrendered this season. The Heat defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 48.2% (3,288 of 6,822) and they concede 41.8 boards per game as a squad. They are giving up 36.7% on 3-point attempts and they rank 2nd in basketball in PPG allowed (109.8).

When they last stepped on the court, the Nuggets went home victorious with a score of 113-111 against the Lakers. The Nuggets snagged 29 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 40 for the contest. They turned the ball over 8 times, while recording 3 steals in this contest. The Lakers committed 19 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Nuggets to the charity stripe for 22 shots. They were able to convert 19 of the free throws for a clip of 86.4%. When discussing 3-point shots, Denver converted 12 of their 33 tries (36.4%). Overall, the Nuggets went 41 out of 85 from the field which gave them a percentage of 48.2%. The Nuggets allowed the Lakers to convert 40 of 86 tries from the field which had them shooting 46.5% for this contest. They finished the game shooting 40.0% from distance by shooting 8 out of 20 and ended up going 23 of 26 from the free throw line (88.5%). With respect to cleaning the glass, Denver allowed Los Angeles to pull down 38 in total (8 on the offensive side).

Jamal Murray ended up having an impact for the Nuggets for the contest. He buried 15 out of 29 for the game for a rate of 51.7%, and had 7 rebounds. Murray had 37 points in his 42 minutes on the hardwood and accounted for 6 dimes in this matchup.

Denver has a record of 53-29 on the season. As an offensive team, the Nuggets are shooting 50.4% from the field, which is 1st in the NBA. Denver has totaled 9,495 points for the season (115.8 per contest) and they pull down 43.0 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 28.9 times per game (2nd in the league) and they are turning it over 14.5 times per game. The Nuggets are committing 18.6 fouls per game and they hit 75.1% from the free throw line.

The Nuggets on defense are ranked 8th in the league in points allowed per game with 112.5. They have forced 13.5 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 47.8% from the floor (20th in the NBA). The Denver defense allows 34.4% on 3-point attempts (933 of 2,711) and their opponents are knocking down 77.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 25.7 dimes and 40.8 rebounds per game, which is 16th and 1st in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Miami (+9)

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