Steph Curry leads the Golden State Warriors against the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, a matchup pitting one of the league’s most popular teams against one of its most iconic franchises.
It’s up to the Warriors to save the NBA playoffs, which began with so much promise but quickly faded after a slew of one-sided games.
The league couldn’t have asked for a better Finals matchup — and it dodged a bullet when the talented, but deadly dull, Miami Heat didn’t show up in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on their home court.
Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the trio of Warriors stars that won three titles in five Finals appearances from 2015-19, seemingly have been rejuvenated, along with the emergence of Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney and the addition of Andrew Wiggins.
Winning without Kevin Durant, who hopped on the championship bus and earned Finals MVP honors in two of the Warriors’ three titles, would be particularly sweet for the threesome, not to mention Andre Iguodala and coach Steve Kerr.
Iguodala returned to Golden State on a veteran minimum deal last offseason, while Kerr seldom is mentioned alongside NBA coaching greats in spite of his three rings as Warriors coach. Perhaps the fourth time will be the charm?
Like their last five Finals appearances in the 2010s, the Warriors face a player in Jayson Tatum who can take over a game. The Celtics guard has evolved into a quiet superstar on a team that looked dysfunctional in November, only to dominate in the second half of the season.
Golden State had to get past LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard in their five-year Finals run, going 3-1 against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers while losing to Leonard and the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
Experts have been divided with their 2022 picks, which can only mean the series is a tossup that should go six or seven games. Or a sweep.
For what it’s worth, Las Vegas has made the Warriors the slight favorite.
But with two evenly-matched teams, it’s anyone’s guess. Both endured playoff losses in which they were toast shortly after the national anthem and won games blowing out their opponents in the first quarter.
The lack of down-to-the-wire games, along with the nonstop video reviews of out-of-bounds calls, has made watching the 2022 playoffs an exercise in futility. But all the NBA needs to redeem itself is an entertaining Finals, and with so many intriguing storylines and two iconic franchises going head to head, hopes are high this one could become a classic.
At least we won’t have to hear about Kyrie Irving’s stance on COVID-19 vaccinations or watch Spike Lee jumping up and down in his courtside seat. And the only way James will appear is via Twitter or Instagram.
Curry will be shooting for his first Finals MVP after Durant and Iguodala took the honors previously for the Warriors. And you know Curry definitely will be shooting and shooting and shooting some more, no matter where he is on the court.
As the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, and in an era in which everyone shoots them without regret, Curry has helped change the game as much as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did with his dunks almost five decades ago. Though he led the league again with 750 3-point attempts, Curry shot only .380 from behind the arc — a career-low over a full season and 58th overall in the NBA. He was 23rd in player efficiency rating (21.4), which measures per minute production, suggesting the two-time league MVP is still valuable but not quite as difficult to defend in his 12th season.
But the Warriors’ 116.1 offensive rating in the playoffs is still at the top, which means Marcus Smart and the league’s best defensive unit will have their hands full.
He’s still Steph Curry, perhaps the league’s most likable star since Michael Jordan, which should be good for ratings. James and Durant may be in Jordan’s area code among the all-time greats, but both signed elsewhere to win their rings, while Curry has done all his ring shopping with one team.
Kerr, seeking his ninth ring, has received more credit for speaking out against the country’s gun laws after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, than for taking a team to the NBA Finals only two years after a 15-50 season. It’s hard to imagine the Warriors without their coach, who also won five rings as a player, including three on the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls dynasty.
The Warriors are a different organization from top to bottom and so analytically-driven that some could get the mistaken impression this team could run on auto-pilot. Before a game against the Bulls last November, Kerr spoke about how the Warriors’ practice and rest routines are guided by the players’ physical and mental needs.
“Our whole training staff looks at that stuff from a scientific standpoint, from a wellness standpoint (concerning) mental health,” Kerr said. “So we have a bunch of smart people basically telling me what our schedule is going to look like and I’m fine with that.”
The players wear heart monitors during practice and are monitored by Dave Taylor, the team’s director of player health and performance research and development. Kerr said Taylor “sits on his computer and looks at everybody and their load and what they’re doing” during practice.
Said Kerr: “I go over and tell David, ‘Just tell me when it’s time to stop. Don’t give me any numbers because they mean nothing to me. I don’t know what any of that means.’ Each practice there is a target for how hard we want them to go. They figure all that stuff out. It’s a little different from the old days … five years ago.”
The NBA is all about change. It was five years ago the Warriors went 16-1 in the playoffs — one of the most dominating postseason runs in NBA history — to avenge the loss to James and the Cavs in the 2016 Finals that marred their record-setting 73-win season.
The 2022 Warriors reboot might not be as groundbreaking as the original., Or as talented as the ones with Durant.
But many of the same stars are back in action. And when Golden State is in the NBA Finals, it’s always must-see TV.
()