This week, the NBA Finals begin between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat. Denver will be a significant favorite to win, especially because they are playing a surprising Miami Heat team instead of the Boston Celtics, which were consistently first or second in the Eastern Conference the entire regular season. Miami is the first team to make the NBA Finals when starting the playoffs in the play-in tournament in the four-year history of this new feature. They were the No. 8 seed in the East when the playoffs began. Both teams have two very good players on their team. For Miami, former 76ers guard Jimmy Butler and center Bam Adebayo, and for Denver, guard Jamal Murray and center Nikola Jokić. For the whole season, the Nuggets were expected to at least get to the Finals. So if Miami pulls off the upset victory, it will be one of the biggest ones in the history of the NBA.
The 76ers have hired former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse as their next head coach. In 2019, he was able to help the Raptors win their first championship. On the way to that, they defeated the 76ers in the second round. The Raptors won with a Game 7 buzzer beater. I don’t know why Nick was even available to the Sixers. He was forced out of Toronto. It's going to be important for the 76ers to continue to make deep runs in the playoffs to keep their superstar player Joel Embiid happy enough to not want to change teams at some point in the future. No one knows what’s going to happen with James Harden with free agency. That is going to be a very popular topic after the NBA Finals are over.
Congratulations to both of the Cape High lacrosse teams for making it to the finals of their state tournament. Unfortunately for the girls’ team, they lost in a very close game to Tatnall School, ending their amazing streak of 13 consecutive state championships. Hopefully they will start a new streak next year. Good luck on Saturday to the boys’ team in the finals against Sallies, yet again. Also, congratulations to the baseball team for making it to the semifinals in their defense of their state championship from last year.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
