NBA Playoffs: Nuggets, Heat Near Finals Matchup; Can LeBron James’ Lakers Avoid Sweep?
Although the NBA conference finals haven’t been competitive from a series perspective — the Denver Nuggets lead the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0, and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat also took a 3-0 lead over the Boston Celtics on Sunday — the theater has been entertaining.
After every Nuggets win, the narratives in the national media have continued to be about LeBron James and the Lakers. Denver head coach Mike Malone has taken this personally, and given how his team has responded by pushing the Lakers to the point of being swept, they’ve taken it personally too.
Said Malone after their Game 2 victory in Denver: “The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. The narrative wasn’t about Nikola. The narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments. So, you know, you put that in your pipe, you smoke it, and you come back and you know what, we’re gonna go up 2-0.”
Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler’s Cinderella run with the Heat stayed hot on Sunday, as Miami ran the Celtics off the floor en route to a 3-0 lead. Nearly three years removed from making an NBA Finals appearance in the Orlando Bubble, the Heat are on the verge of making it back again. Butler has talked a lot of trash along the way, but unlike the Heat teams from 2010-2014, it’s easier to root for this year’s version.
We discuss all of the latest playoff drama, as well as the latest rumors regarding Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, in today’s episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast.
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