The Miami Heat reportedly have a flight scheduled to Denver after Monday night’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
While it may seem like a confident move by the team heading into a winner-take-all matchup, the team also likely needed to plan ahead with Game 1 of the NBA Finals scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 1.
The Denver Nuggets are patiently waiting for the winner of Monday’s Game 7 matchup between Miami and Boston, as the Nuggets took down the Los Angeles Lakers in just four games in the Western Conference Finals.
If the Heat win on Monday night, Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be in Denver. However, if Boston wins, it had a better regular season record than Denver, so Game 1 would be played at TD Garden in Boston.
The Heat are looking to avoid being on the wrong side of history against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. No team in the history of the NBA has ever erased a 3-0 series deficit, but Boston is just one win away from doing so.
Only the New York Knicks in 1951, the Denver Nuggets in 1994 and the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003 have forced a Game 7 after falling down 3-0 in a seven-game series. All three of those teams lost Game 7.
If the Heat can advance on Monday night, they have a tough matchup awaiting in Denver. The Nuggets have dominated this postseason, losing just three games on their way to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic has been dominant, and guard Jamal Murray is scoring the ball at a much higher rate in the postseason than he did during the regular season.
After taking a 3-0 series lead on Boston, the Heat dropped Games 4 and 6 at home, losing in heartbreaking fashion in Game 6 on Saturday night. Miami allowed Derrick White to tip in an offensive rebound as time expired to force Game 7.
While the Heat have travel plans ready if they advance, the team needs to focus on getting to the NBA Finals first by winning a third road game in this series.