The Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets, who are in the 2023 NBA Finals, do not have rosters with a collection of superstars. Both teams reached the championship round by playing unselfish team ball, which isn’t always the case with super teams.
Kevin Garnett had this to say about how both teams are using the entire roster to battle in the finals (via Showtime Basketball):
“You know what’s crazy outta all this? It’s not even your three against my two. It’s like your seven, eight against my seven, eight. That’s what I love about this Finals. It ain’t no more Bron [James], KD [Durant] go at it. It ain’t no star against star. Lord, it is about this seven, eight, nine.”
In the NBA playoffs, the Denver Nuggets have seven players averaging at least 15 minutes per game. Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green play the most for coach Mike Malone. Christian Braun gets 12 minutes per contest.
Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat is even more willing to go deep into his bench. He has 10 players getting at least 15 minutes per game. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vicent and Caleb Martin are hitting over 30 minutes per contest. Max Strus, Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love round-up Miami’s regular contributors.
Oladipo and Herro played just one game in the playoffs, but there’s a big chance Spoelstra would have stuck with his rotation.
Against the Nuggets, Cody Zeller and Haywood Highsmith could also see a bump in their minutes for their defense and hustle. Denver’s whirring offense will push Miami to have fresh legs on the floor.
Some NBA teams can be so top-heavy that coaches are extremely hesitant to give minutes to the seventh, eighth or ninth players. One such example was the Phoenix Suns, who the Denver Nuggets eliminated in six games in the semifinals.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker averaged 41.1 and 40.5 minutes per game, respectively. No one else had more than 30.
Booker played an insane series but he couldn’t carry the Suns on his own. Denver’s relentless attack, behind its depth and balance, eventually overwhelmed Phoenix.
