NBA 2023 Finals start date, schedule, and more

The NBA 2023 Finals will begin in early June, the league has announced. The final series of the 2023 playoffs should conclude in the middle of next month, even if it goes to seven games.

At the moment, eight teams are fighting to advance to the conference finals. Two of these teams will meet on June 1 for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors, the defending champions, are still in play and could defend their title.

Considering how competitive the basketball league has been this year, we expect a fantastic series in the NBA 2023 Finals. However, it's hard to correctly predict which two teams will meet in the end as everyone has a shot at winning the title.

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The last possible game of NBA 2023 Finals will be played on June 18

The NBA has released an entire schedule for the final series of the playoffs. Every game of the series will be broadcast on ABC, but basketball fans will also be able to watch it on the NBA League Pass.

The first game of the series is scheduled for June 1, while the league has scheduled the last possible game (Game 7) for June 18. Since this is a best-of-seven series, at least four games will be played in it.

The Warriors could reach the NBA 2023 Finals and defend the title (Image via Getty Images)

Here is the full schedule for the NBA 2023 Finals:

• Game 1 - June 1, 8:30 PM ET
• Game 2 - June 4, 8:00 PM
• Game 3 - June 7, 8:30 PM
• Game 4 - June 9, 8:30 PM

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The series won't end until one team wins four games. If this doesn't happen in the first four games of the series, there will be up to three more games:

• Game 5 - June 12, 8:30 PM
• Game 6 - June 15, 8:30 PM
• Game 7 - June 18, 8 PM

The Celtics are the favorites to go back to the NBA Finals (Image via Getty Images)

The Boston Celtics are also looking to return to the NBA Finals. According to Fan Duel, they have the best odds of winning the title (+165) as of May 4. Here are all the other teams and their odds:

• Denver Nuggets (+310)
• LA Lakers (+550)
• Philadelphia 76ers (+700)
• Golden State Warriors (+700)
• Phoenix Suns (+1500)
• Miami Heat (+3000)
• New York Knicks (+3200)

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The Heat and Knicks have the lowest odds of winning it all, while the Celtics and Nuggets are heavily-favored to reach the NBA 2023 Finals and win the title.

Considering that Boston and Denver have been two of the healthiest teams so far in the postseason, the odds are not surprising at all. Injuries have affected many teams so far in the playoffs, from the Milwaukee Bucks to Phoenix Suns.