NFL
By: Christopher Jordan
The stage is set for the 2022 NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors will be facing each other for the chance to win an NBA Championship.
Both ball clubs came into the season with high expectations to compete for a Championship.
The Warriors came into the season with a chip on their shoulder because for the past two seasons Golden State had missed the playoffs after going to the finals for five consecutive seasons and winning championships making them one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
It seemed like the departure of Kevin Durant and two big injuries that sidelined Klay Thompson for two years was the end of the Warrior’s title run.
Rather than rebuilding, the Warriors just retooled their supporting cast around their core 3 in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Players such as Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Gray Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Jonathan Kuminga, and Kevon Looney.
Golden State kept getting better and better throughout the season, showing the entire NBA they’re a team that can compete for a title if they’re healthy since they were getting Klay Thompson back during the season.
The Warriors came into the playoffs with the 3rd seed in the Western Conference and they went on to face the Denver Nuggets in the first round and they would go on to beat Denver in 5 games.
After beating Denver, Golden State would face a feisty young Grizzlies team led by Ja Morant. The Warriors would go on to beat Memphis in six games despite Morant’s injury during that series. The Warriors showed their experience when it mattered, and they got the job done.
Golden State beat the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals and they were too much for the Mavericks to handle. The Warriors are now back on the big stage and motivated to win another championship. If they win it’ll be their 4th title in 6 years.
On the other end, the Boston Celtics came into the season not on most teams’ radar as one of the favorites to compete for a championship.
The Celtics had a first-time head coach in Ime Udoka so learning a new system would take time to get accustomed to. Boston’s season would turn around in January when everything just clicked at the right time.
Since January 10, 2022, the Celtics had a (32-10) record going into the playoffs and they have been the best defensive team since.
The Boston Celtics are led by their young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. For the past few seasons, Boston had made a lot of Eastern Conference finals appearances but they could never get over the hump.
The talk around the NBA was to split up Tatum and Brown because they couldn’t get over the hump. However, that wasn’t the case because they have made that next step, and their 4 wins away from a championship.
Boston has every piece a team needs to win a championship. They have the toughness, the grit, they play relentless defense, and size and they have firepower on the offensive side of the ball.
The Celtics have had one of the most difficult roads to a title in NBA history. They came into the playoffs having to face the Brooklyn Nets led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Celtics did not only beat the Nets they swept them and they frustrated Durant in ways that no team has ever done.
Boston went on to face the defending NBA champions Milwaukee Bucks led by Giannis Antetokounmpo who was the reigning finals MVP. The Celtics had to overcome adversity during that series because Boston was down (3-2) in the series and they went on to win game 6 on the road with a 46-point masterpiece led by Jayson Tatum and Boston went on to win game 7.
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics went on to win the Eastern Conference after winning 3 games on the road including a game 7 over the Miami Heat giving Boston the right to face the Golden State Warriors in the finals.
The NBA finals will tip off on June 2 around 9 P.M. Eastern at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Will the Warriors get back on the top, or will the Celtics emerge and become champions?[pickup_prop id=”25023″]
