And just like that, we're officially set to begin the 2023 NBA Finals. After a dominant Western Conference sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets enter the NBA Finals well-rested, which is far from the case for their opponent, the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed, the Miami Heat.
Ride the hot hand with an encore performance from Caleb Martin
The Heat are just three days removed from being on the fringe of being the first NBA team in history to blow a 3-0 series lead. But instead of falling in Game 7 on the road to the Boston Celtics, they put on a completely dominant performance led by Jimmy Butler and emerging star Caleb Martin. And speaking of Martin, there's no better place to start.
Let's run it back, Caleb
Martin shocked virtually all NBA fans when he was the secondary star (and at times the primary star) for the Heat against the Celtics. Butler has officially found his co-pilot, and Martin looks ready for the biggest stage of them all.
But even after posting averages of 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in the seven-game series with the Celtics, there still appears to be some lack of respect put on his name.
Martin enters Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Nuggets with points + rebounds over/under of 23.5, a mark which he blew past in each of the past two games (doing it in the scoring department alone in Game 7). The key factor here is that Martin has jumped from 30-35 minutes per game up to 40-plus, but beyond that, he's taking minutes specifically from players like Kevin Love, and doing a great job on the glass.
Martin pulled down 15 rebounds in Game 6 and 10 in Game 7. There's no reason to think he won't push double digits again, leaving somewhere in the 13- to 15-point range as a potential worst-case scenario.
Betting: Caleb Martin over 23.5 points + rebounds (-106)
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