One advantage every professional sports team has playing in the city of Denver is the altitude, which can be challenging to adjust to, even for professional athletes in tip-top shape.
Coming into the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat will be tasked with battling through the impact that the high altitude will have on their bodies, but few teams are in the kind of shape that Erik Spoelstra’s players are due to the strict guidelines implemented by Pat Riley.
Spoelstra isn’t worried about the altitude, as he said the following about going to Denver for Game 1 of the Finals via Rachel Nichols of Showtime.
The Heat don’t seem bothered by the idea of playing a game at altitude on such a tight turnaround after Game 7 in Boston. Coach Erik Spoelstra: “If Denver wants to tip this thing off at Everest, we can do it.”
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 31, 2023
This is a typical statement that any head coach in the NBA or any professional sport would make, for that matter, as the team isn’t going to show signs of weakness heading into a seven-game series.
With the Heat defying the odds throughout the NBA playoffs thus far, Spoelstra isn’t worried about how his team will respond on the road, and justifiably so, as Miami has been as resilient as ever no matter the circumstances during the postseason.
Another interesting aspect of Thursday’s game to get the Finals underway is that the Heat have won Game 1 six consecutive times, meaning the pressure will be on the Nuggets to get this series started on their home floor of Ball Arena.
It will be an interesting start to the Finals, with the Nuggets being almost too rested and the Heat only a few days removed from taking down the Boston Celtics on the road in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
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