2023 NBA Finals Odds: Denver Still Big Favorite After Bad Game 2 Loss to Miami

Image © Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

✍️ Written by :

Ty Bronicel

🗓 Updated :

Aug 23rd 2023

It was a stunner, but the Nuggets’ Game 2 loss to the Heat is just one game, after all, and that seems the takeaway for bettors and oddsmakers alike.

The Finals now shift to Miami for Games 3 and 4.

Denver, though, remains the heavy favorite to win its first NBA title.

Per FanDuel, one of our favorite gambling sites out there along with BetMGM, DraftKings, and many more, the odds look like this:

NBA Championship 2023

Denver Nuggets -270

Miami Heat +220

However, Denver could be facing a Heat team with Tyler Herro, although reports differ on whether the Heat’s third-leading scorer during the regular season will see any action at all in the Finals. Herro has been sidelined for more than seven weeks after injuring his hand late in the first half of the Heat’s playoff opener against Milwaukee.

One thing is certain, though:

A more determined effort from the Nuggets after their Game 2 collapse.

“It’s the (expletive) Finals, man,” Denver forward Jeff Green said following the loss. “Our energy has to be better. … I think it’s all about discipline. We just have to be better disciplined on the ball, off the ball, knowing our coverages, what we’re supposed to do. … I don’t think we need a rah-rah speech in order to get us up. I think we know what we have to do going into Game 3.”

Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was ticked following the home-court upset.

“We are talking about effort; that’s a huge concern of mine,” Malone said. “We had guys out there that were just whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off. This is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing.

“I asked the team: ‘You guys tell me why they lost,’ and they knew the answer. Miami came in here and outworked us, and we were by far our least disciplined game of these playoffs. So many breakdowns. They exploited every one of our breakdowns and scored.”

Here’s a strange stat, although it does make sense when you consider that Nikola Jokic is the best passing big man in the game and he had just four assists (compared to 14 in Denver’s Game 1 win) and check this:

For the third time this postseason, Nikola Jokic broke the 40-point barrier – and for the third time in those games, the Nuggets lost.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne posed a question to Miami head coach Eric Spoelstra, basically asking if the Heat’s game plan defensively was to force Jokic into being more of a scorer.

“That’s a ridiculous … that’s the untrained eye that says something like that,” Spoelstra said. “This guy is an incredible player. Twice in two seasons he’s been the best player on this planet. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, let’s make him a scorer.’ That’s not how they play. They have so many different actions that just get you compromised. We have to focus on what we do. We try to do things the hard way, and he forces you to do many things the hard way. He has our full respect.”

Jokic also remains the massive favorite to be named Finals MVP.