Congrats to the Denver Nuggets on winning their first-ever NBA Championship! Led by two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets defeated head coach Eric Spoelstra and the Miami Heat. Although this Finals series was only five games long, it was an incredible nip-and-tuck battle between two hungry teams. As a die-hard Heat fan, I was compelled to affect the game as best as I could… by attending Game 4 in person! It was my first NBA Finals experience and so I would like to share some of the sights and sounds from the game itself.
The NBA Finals Fan Experience
I did not notice anything special that the NBA did to distinguish this game from a regular season or early-round playoff game. You could definitely feel the excitement in the crowd with fans scurrying to their seats before tip-off. In the previous finals game, the Miami Heat provided white T-shirts on everyone’s seats to assist with the crowd “White-Out”. For Game 4, with the Heat being down 2-1 already, white rally towels were provided. Each towel marked the Heat victims from the previous round. Unfortunately, it’s still applicable that Denver is not crossed off.
Roar of the Crowd
It was my first Scott Foster game. The notorious referee that ruffles the feathers of every fanbase actually did really well—no noticeable miscues. The crowd by and large took to making jokes about Michael Porter Jr. most of the game. The banter throughout the game was largely of people who know basketball, but not as nuanced as other fan bases. Knicks fans, for instance, seemed more knowledgeable back when I attended a New York Knicks playoff game. However, the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden was more of an expectation that they would lose. And they did. Rajon Rondo tore them a new one. But, check out this Miami Heat crowd!
Yes, that is DJ Khalid, revving up everyone on the mic. There were a ton of celebrities at the game. Chris Tucker, Forest Whitaker, Lil Wayne, and, umm… Conor McGregor too.
Conor McGregor vs Burnie the Mascot
Yep. I watched that live. During a timeout, Conor came out to promote some partnership between the Heat and an alcohol brand he was promoting. McGregor was met with scattered applause as he was introduced, followed by audible booing throughout his mic session. Burnie, the Heat mascot, came out wearing boxing gloves. Playing a bit to The Notorious One’s reputation as an MMA fighter and part-time boxer, Burnie bounced around Conor as he spoke. McGregor proceeded to knock the mascot out with one punch, then while he was laid out, hovered over Burnie and punched him again! Burnie was down and stayed down.
You would not believe it if you were not in the building, but the entire arena went into a hushed silence. You could see tears in the eyes of some kids in the stands. Burnie didn’t return to the game and was later admitted into the emergency room. The arena needed noise to help with the comeback, but the debacle silenced the room.
In addition to the mascot assault, Conor McGregor was accused of rape later during this game (with video evidence).
The Fourth Quarter
The Heat spent the entirety of the game trying to keep pace. Porter Jr. made a couple of shots in a row to silence the crowd. We all lost our voices shouting encouragement for Max Strus. The Heat shooting guard left the “shooting” in the locker room, registering the same number of points as I did on the night (zero points on 0-4 shooting). Kevin Love had a fire to his game but was left on the bench when the contest reached its apex. The Heat should retain Love to replace the retiring Udonis Haslem as our veteran presence moving forward.
I spent the entire game shouting the foul count on Nikola Jokic to everyone in my section. I raised my fingers for each foul, and when he got to five fouls (one away from fouling out of the game), the crowd picked up on it and raised their fingers with me. The arena was as loud as ever because we felt this was our time to seize the moment. This was during the tight fourth quarter when the Heat only trailed by five points. Then the offense went silent. The mental fatigue became a barrier they could not push through. The Heat held firm on defense, but the ball became a hot potato with no one wanting to shoot it. And Denver crept away with a victory despite a terrible shooting night from their stars, Jokic and Jamal Murray.
NBA Finals Experience Thank Yous
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my aunt for bringing me to the game with her (she is a season-ticket holder and die-hard Heat fan). Thank you, Dr. Sandra Moreau Oliver, for bringing me to my first Miami Heat home game, second-ever playoff game, and first NBA Finals experience. Salute to the Miami Heat for instilling championship culture despite a fun, party setting. Come check it out for yourself, Damian Lillard.
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1 Comment
Nice! Sounds like you had a great experience.