Miami at Denver

Denver will be one of the most rested teams in NBA playoff history with nine days off between the conference final and Game 1 of the finals on Thursday. Meanwhile, Miami is just relieved to be here after nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead before finally disposing of Boston on Monday night. This puts the Heat in a letdown spot as they go on the road again to play the Nuggets, who are 42-7 at home and 31-18 ATS. Miami is 23-28 straight up and 22-27-1 ATS on the road and the Nuggets have won and covered the past six meetings. The Heat haven't beaten Denver since August of 2020 in the bubble. Miami will have to find a way to somewhat contain Nikola Jokic, who is averaging a triple-double in the postseason with 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game while shooting 53.8 percent and 47.4 percent from 3-point distance. The Heat haven't had much success against Jokic in the past. Miami went UNDER its last four games against Boston and the Nuggets have gone UNDER four of its past six games. Also, Denver is 9-4 UNDER its past 13 home games and both teams will start out a little tentative and the Nuggets could be a little rusty offensively in the opening quarter. Lay the points with the Nuggets (Max Play), and take the first-half UNDER, as well as the full game to stay UNDER.