The NBA world was buzzing on Saturday night when the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat by one point (and one-tenth of a second) to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Denver Nuggets, though, seem to be getting impatient — or at least, bored — on Twitter.
Can the Celtics become the first NBA team to erase a 3-0 series deficit? Will the Heat build on what was a tremendous second half of Game 7, or will Derrick White’s buzzer-beating putback be too much of a gut punch to overcome?
Most NBA fans are eager to find out. The Nuggets, meanwhile, just want to know who they’re going to play and said as much with a simple two-word tweet on Saturday night, saying “Still waiting.”
Still waiting pic.twitter.com/57bIntvtnP
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 28, 2023
For some perspective, the Nuggets completed their four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals on Monday, May 22. The Eastern Conference champion will not be crowned until Monday, May 29, a full week after the Nuggets victory out West.
Interestingly, unlike the NHL, which would have moved the Stanley Cup Final series up had the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars in four or five games (which did not happen), the NBA Finals dates are set. Game 1 will be on Thursday, June 1, and would have been if both participants swept their Conference Finals matchups.
So, as soon as the Nuggets swept the Lakers, they bought themselves a lot of time to wait. But given that the Heat were up 3-0 (and routed the Celtics in Game 3) when Denver wrapped up its series, the Nuggets probably didn’t think they would have to wait a full week to know who their next opponent would be.