Miami Heat Speak With Media Ahead of NBA Finals Matchup Against Denver – NBC 6 South Florida

The stage is set inside Ball Arena in Denver.

“We’ve shown a lot of resilience, a lot of persistence and belief in one another, and we’re excited for the opportunity that’s ahead,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said.

Miami is playing in its 7th NBA Finals as a franchise, but doing it the hard way, from the play-in to the 8th seed.

“We’re going to stay confident because we’re in the grind every single day,” Jimmy Butler said.

To cap off a historic playoff run, Miami will have to take down a tough Denver team, who has rested and try to slow down two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

“He’s very unique, he doesn’t have noticeable weaknesses in terms of his size and skill set, he’s 1 of 1, in a myriad of ways he can impact the game and winning,” Coach Erik Spoelstra said.

But the Heat are in a rhythm.

“I think once the ball goes up they will settle in and that rest versus rust thing will play itself out, but you can find the advantages in both, Miami is coming in with a ton of momentum, they’re flying high,” Tim Reynolds with the Associated Press said.

The team was having fun at practice Wednesday. Several of the players spoke with the media, including Jimmy Butler, who said they’re not surprised by what they’ve accomplished so far.

“We do it every single day and we know what we’re capable of, the outside individuals don’t get the opportunity to see that and I wish you all did because the  you would see that the guys that we have on his team on his roster can really play some high-level basketball,” Butler said.

Spoelstra called Denver legit.

“We have great respect for the Denver Nuggets organization how they operate and the system that they run and this is the way it should be,” Spoelstra said.

A Miami team that’s not taking this opportunity for granted.

“We believe in what we do, every single night, the work we put in,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said.