OK, so it's been awhile since we thought about the NBA. Here's a list of the NBA Finals from 2011 through 2019:
2011: Dallas 4, Miami 2
2012: Miami 4, Oklahoma City 1
2013: Miami 4, San Antonio 3
2014: San Antonio 4, Miami 1
2015: Golden St. 4, Cleveland 2
2016: Cleveland 4, Golden St. 3
2017: Golden St. 4, Cleveland 1
2018: Golden St. 4, Cleveland 0
2019: Toronto 4, Golden St. 2
So that was the era of LeBron James and Stephen Curry. In those nine seasons, they combined for six titles. LeBron went to the finals for eight years in a row; Curry's Warriors went to the finals for five years in a row -- they met in the finals every year from 2015 to 2018. There weren't enough Game Sevens, but other than that it was a good time for the NBA.
By the end of the 2019 season, LeBron was in L.A. and Golden State was all banged up. Here's what happened in the last two years, which were both distorted by COVID:
2020: L.A. Lakers 4, Miami 2
2021: Milwaukee 4, Phoenix 2
And that brought us to this year, the first real NBA season since 2019 -- and potentially the beginning of a new era. LeBron's Lakers fell apart and didn't make the playoffs. But Golden State was back for the first time since 2019. In the first round, all the higher seeds won -- which is usually a good sign that the later rounds will be competitive. The quarter-finals begin today, and here's what we've got:
Eastern Conference:
(1) Miami v. (4) Philadelphia
(2) Boston v. (3) Milwaukee
It's the last two Eastern champions against two of the most famous teams in the East. That's encouraging.
Western Conference:
(1) Phoenix v. (4) Dallas
(2) Memphis v. (3) Golden St.
We've got last year's Western champions along with massive stars Luca Doncic (Dallas), Ja Morant (Memphis), and, of course, Steph Curry (Golden St.). Another collection of promising matchups.
It's too early to really start watching, of course, but we'll check in again once each series has gone about four games.
I watched the equivalent an entire game of the playoffs one night last week--the last quarter of the Grizzlies over Timberwolves where Morant won with the buzzer gliding layup and then three quarters of Suns over Pelicans where I kept thinking Chris Paul was going to wear down. It was all very intense and interesting, and the crowds were absolutely rollicking. The game announcers were good, and the Charles Barkley/Kenny Smith show in the breaks was, of course, fantastic. I could see becoming a huge NBA fan based on that night of TV.
ReplyDeleteThe first two games between Memphis and Golden State were excellent.
ReplyDeleteHome teams listed first:
ReplyDeleteGame 1: Memphis 116 - 117 Golden State (34 points from Ja Morant)
Game 2: Memphis 106 - 101 Golden State (47 points from Ja Morant)
Ja Morant is the new Dwight "The Blur" Anderson.
ReplyDeleteAnd like The Blur, he has suffered an injury that eliminates him the rest of the way.
DeleteYeah. Totally stinks.
DeleteI jinxed him.
DeleteMiami leads Philly 2-1
ReplyDeleteMilwaukee leads Boston 2-1
Phoenix leads Dallas 2-1
Golden State leads Memphis 2-1