Miami Heats

And Jimmy Butler was proven right.

Finally, we have a title-series match-up: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The series starts in Denver on Friday NZT.

The Heat got there by winning Game 7 of the East title series in Boston today. It came one year to the day after the Celtics won a Game 7 on Miami's floor to win the East title a year ago.

Anthony Davis scored 34 points for the Lakers, with James adding 25 points and nine assists.

Jimmy Butler had 23 points for the Heat, who lost point guard Goran Dragic and forward Bam Adebayo to injury.

James said: "The job is not done. We're not satisfied winning one game."

Speaking after Thursday's game, he added: "You have to get a feel for how hard Miami plays. We got a sense for that. We got more work to do. It's that simple."

With the Lakers already through, the Heat booked their place in the title-deciding series with a 125-113 win in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Monday (NZ time).

Bam Adebayo proved the key man for Miami, scoring a career-high 32 points and adding 14 rebounds to help his side take the seven-game series 4-2.

Star guard Jimmy Butler had 22 points, while Tyler Herro had 19 and Andre Iguodala finished with a season-high 15.