What could define the NBA Finals?

1- What keeps Nuggets coach Michael Malone awake at night?
For coach Michael Malone the first of his nightmares must start with the pace of play, considering it’s been 10 days since his Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the Conference Finals and facing a Miami Heat that has been through everything in this postseason, from the sublime to the ridiculous; from the Play-In to the Game 7 elimination of the Boston Celtics, when it looked like they were letting a 3-0 series lead slip away.

He surely also spends sleepless nights figuring out how to stop the strategy of coach Erik Spoelstra, who has seen it all in the postseason including the NBA Finals. For Malone and the Nuggets, it’s their first ever…

And inside, Malone will have to find a way to find shooters with good looks outside the paint, even though it’s a given that Jokic will dominate below the rim.

They have to take care of the ball, as Miami has made a living this past month by winning the turnover differential and Jimmy Butler stealing balls…

2- What is keeping Heat coach Erik Spoelstra awake at night?
The Miami Heat coach should sleep easy for two main reasons: he took his team much further than anyone expected and he has already been to the NBA Finals five times, so he knows perfectly well the situation he is about to face.

But if there’s one thing that can keep him awake at night, it’s figuring out how to take the spotlight away from Nikola Jokic, the most outstanding player of these playoffs. The Serbian dominates every aspect of the game: he shoots well, passes better and grabs rebounds. He comes in with confidence sky-high with the triple-double he’s averaging in the postseason.

If Spoelstra, either with zone or individual defense, can limit Jokic’s influence, then he will have taken a huge step toward taking some wins away from Denver. Perhaps, he should choose the lesser evil: having the Serbian score a lot but not being able to fluidly supply shooters and not getting to play in pairs with Jamal Murray comfortably may be the desired option.

3- The X-Factor of this series is (player, situation, intangibles)?
Caleb Martin could be that ‘X-Factor’ that changes the fate of a game. The small forward was one of the great revelations of the East Finals, especially in Games 6 and 7 against the Celtics coming off the bench or as a starter.

His contributions from the field and three-pointers in the series against the Celtics made him a candidate for the MVP of the East Finals, but throughout the playoffs he was not out of tune with the rest of his teammates, shooting 56.6% from the field, 43.8% from three-point range and 81.8% from the free throw line.

It would not be surprising if coach Erik Spoelstra decided to use him as a starter in more than one game against the Nuggets.

4- For Denver to win the NBA title it has to….

If Denver can get the edge on Miami in one area of the court, it’s offense. The Nuggets have the second-best scoring average in the playoffs at 116.4 per game. They are also the team with the highest point differential between those they score and those they allow at +8.3. The numbers are in their favor.

But in the Finals, the emotional level plays as much as the stats. Against the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver showed the poise necessary to impose their best game and the greater hierarchy of their roster. If they can maintain that dominance, if they continue to privilege team play over individual arrests and if Nikola Jokic is as dominant on both ends of the court as he has been so far, the Nuggets will surely be crowned champions (Marcelo Bousquet) (Marcelo Bousquet).

5- For Miami to win, it has to….
Miami has not fared well against Denver recently; over the last five years they have a 1-9 record. Zone defense doesn’t seem to be a good formula against Nikola Jokic and his incredible ability to find his unmarked teammates. Stars can’t be stopped, but maybe they can be limited. In this case, Miami should focus on Jamaal Murray. They should look for him on the defensive end to wear him down, show him the occasional full-court pressure, and remarque him; Caleb Martin would complicate him with his size, plus the active hands of Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry. As counterintuitive as it sounds, I wouldn’t double Jokic and “let” him score his points. While Jokic can score 40 on any given day, that is not his primary nature and he is most dangerous when he gets his teammates involved. The Heat will be underdogs once again, but that hasn’t stopped them in the past. (