After a thrilling Eastern Conference Finals and a not so thrilling Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat will compete in the NBA Finals starting Thursday.  

This is really a David vs. Goliath NBA Finals. On one hand, the 1 seed Nuggets are well rested after sweeping the Lakers in the conference finals. On the other, the 8 seed Heat are just coming off of a Game 7 victory over the Celtics.  

The Nuggets also arguably have the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic. Jokic is a 7-foot center who is pretty much unguardable. He handles and passes the ball like a point guard, he is an above average three-point shooter, and his game in the post is next level. Jokic alone is a matchup nightmare, but then there is the supporting cast of Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, and Aaron Gordon.  

The Heat also have some star power in Jimmy Butler. Although Butler isn’t as hard to guard as Jokic, his mindset and the intensity he plays with makes him stand out. The Heat also have Bam Adebayo, who is known as one of the best rim protectors in the league. Along with those two stars, Coach Erik Spoelstra puts shooters around the two like Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, who is expected to come back from a hand injury sometime during the finals. 

The Heat do have one thing on the Nuggets: coaching. Miami is led by Spoelstra, who has tons of experience in the NBA Finals from coaching and winning them in 2012 and 2013. But Denver’s coach Mike Malone is nowhere near a bad coach. Malone has led the Nuggets to multiple playoff appearances over his short coaching span. Both coaches look to add to their resume with an NBA championship. 

The talent of the players will not be the only thing making this series entertaining. There has been some past beef between Jokic and Butler, and Butler is a player who likes to get into an opponent’s head to throw them off their game. So look forward to Jimmy Butler doing anything he can to defeat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.