It’s finally here. The moment we hoop fans have been waiting for for a while (317 days to be exact), the NBA finals. This year’s matchup features the Golden State Warriors (3) and the Boston Celtics (2), two heavyweights in their respective conferences.
Quite frankly, this might be the most evenly matched NBA Finals we’ve had in years, and in on brand fashion, the season series between these two was split 1-1. In one of those matchups the Warriors won by a narrow 4-point margin. In the other, the Celtics won by a whopping 22 points.
Now, while the 22-point lead might stick out to you as making the Celtics the favorite to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, you have to keep in mind that the Celtics have had a much more testy road to the NBA Finals. Boston had two series that went seven games, not to mention they had to go through the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving led Nets (even though it was a sweep) in the first round of the playoffs.
Golden State, on the other hand, had to go against some really good teams as well, but lost a total of only four games coming into this year’s NBA Finals.
Despite all of that, the Celtics aren’t talking like they’re satisfied with just coming out of the Eastern Conference.
“We’re not satisfied, we know we’ve still got a long way to go,” said Jayson Tatum. “We know we have a tough task ahead. They’ve been there many times. They’ve won many times.”
That type of hunger that these young Celtics have is what will make this year’s finals so entertaining to watch, because in terms of Finals experience it’s not even close. This year’s Warriors collectively have 123 games of NBA Finals experience while the Celtics have 0.
Make no mistake though, this Celtics team is very talented and deep to say the least, and now they’re battle-tested.
Currently the Celtics have the highest ranked defense in the playoffs, which will come in handy against the Warriors since they have the highest-ranked offense. Boston also has the highest ranked perimeter defense, which for obvious reasons will help them against the “splash bros.” The Celtics have been holding their opponents to 33.5% from behind the arc.
The one thing that may help separate themselves from the dubs is their presence in the paint. Both teams rank in the bottom 30 percentile in the league in PPG in the paint, but the Celtics have both Al Horford and Robert Williams III, who together provide both rim protection and inside scoring.
Now, putting all things into perspective, even if on paper neither team sets themselves apart from their opponent too much, the weapons each side has should make for an entertaining battle to say the least.
On the Celtics, Tatum is averaging 27 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.9 APG, 44.6% FG and 37.5% 3FG. Jaylen Brown is averaging 22.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 48.5% FG and 38.6% 3FG. Marcus Smart is averaging 15 PPG, 6.2 APG and 39.5% FG.
On the Warriors, Curry is averaging 25.9 PPG, 6.2 APG, 44.9% FG and 38% 3FG. Klay Thompson is averaging 19.8 PPG, 45.7% FG and 39.9% 3FG. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 15.8 PPG, 7 RPG and 48% FG.
Although both teams have so much versatility, many have the Warriors winning this best-of-7 series (easily) simply because they have the perfect mix of both versatility and experience. That seems to be what is fueling the Dubs’ confidence heading into this matchup as well.
“Obviously a great team. They’re in the Finals. They’ve had a group together. Gone through a lot in the last four or five years,” said Curry. “Had some success early, had to figure out how to sustain it…Me, Draymond, Klay, Loom [and] Andre even, there’s always a confidence when we’re out on the floor, good things will happen. We know each other so well.”
