2 groups, 2 possibilities at titles: Heat, Panthers prepared for his or her finals assessments

They had been No. 8 seeds. They barely bought into the playoffs after up-and-down common seasons. They needed to face the No. 1 total seeds in Round 1 of the postseason. They needed to win Game 7s in Boston simply to maintain their seasons alive. They are Eastern Conference champions. They are every 4 wins from a championship.

This is the story of the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers.

And it may have an ending like none different.

There’s by no means been a season the place one metropolis – or one metro space, on this case – has gotten to rejoice each profitable each the NBA title and the NHL’s Stanley Cup. There have been 9 earlier tries; in two instances there’s been an NHL title and no NBA crown, in three instances there’s been an NBA title and no NHL crown, and within the 4 different instances each groups have misplaced.

South Florida has an opportunity to alter that. Larry, meet Stanley. Stanley, meet Larry.

“That would be insane. … If that would ever happen, that would truly be unbelievable,” mentioned Florida star Matthew Tkachuk, who had three game-winning objectives for the Panthers of their East finals win over Carolina. “It’s just great how both fan bases have been able to root together.”

PHOTOS: 2 groups, 2 possibilities at titles: Heat, Panthers prepared for his or her finals assessments

It’ll proceed to be that approach. The NBA Finals begin in Denver on Thursday night time with the Heat taking over the Nuggets; the Stanley Cup Final begins in Las Vegas on Saturday night time with the Vegas Golden Knights taking over the Panthers.

There may very well be as many as 14 championship-series video games involving the Heat and Panthers in a span of 19 days. Starting Thursday, there will likely be eight video games in a span of 10 days – no sport for both sport on June 2, no sport for both sport on June 6, and 4 video games in a four-night span in South Florida beginning June 7. And there’s by no means two video games on the identical night time, both.

“I know it’s fun to watch,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “I’m not sure what they’re doing, but it’s 5-on-5, right? I get that. There’s a connection now between the two teams through sports fans down here. So, there’s hockey fans that are probably like me, but now they’re dialed into that because it’s just a great story. And it’s fun to be a part of it.”

PANTHERS ROAD

Got into playoffs as second wild-card from Eastern Conference. Beat Boston 4-3 in Round 1 (profitable a Game 7 in Boston), beat Toronto 4-1 in Round 2, beat Carolina 4-0 in East finals.

HEAT ROAD

Got into playoffs after profitable second play-in sport. Beat Milwaukee 4-1 in Round 1, beat New York 4-2 in Round 2, beat Boston 4-3 in East finals (profitable a Game 7 in Boston).

PAST INSTANCES OF TWO FINALISTS

1957: Boston Celtics win NBA Finals, Boston Bruins lose Stanley Cup Final.

1958: Celtics and Bruins each lose.

1972: New York Knicks lose NBA Finals, New York Rangers lose Stanley Cup Final.

1974: Celtics win, Bruins lose.

1980: Philadelphia 76ers lose NBA Finals, Philadelphia Flyers lose Stanley Cup Final.

1992: Chicago Bulls win NBA Finals, Chicago Blackhawks lose Stanley Cup Final.

1994: Knicks lose, Rangers win.

2003: New Jersey Nets lose NBA Finals, New Jersey Devils win Stanley Cup Final.