NBA Finals 2022 - My Thoughts...

Details: Created: Thursday, 02 June 2022 15:56; Published: Thursday, 02 June 2022 16:11; Written by Ax D. WhiteMan

Just wanting to go on record here, so if I'm right, I can point to this and say, "I told you so," and if I'm wrong, well almost nobody cares anyway...

I don't have a particular favorite in this year's Celtics / Warriors matchup; but as a Cavs fan, I must admit to having something of an anti-Warrior bias. Not withstanding, it seems to me that the Celtics are physically superior in size, speed, and except of Steph Curry, skill. The Celtics finished the season with a league best 17 - 5 record after the All Star Break. The Celtics path to the finals has been difficult. They chose not to duck the Nets and swept Durant and Kyrie. They faced the Bucks and Yanis and recovered from a 3-2 deficit. (yeah I know Middleton was injured). They then took on the number one seed Heat, and beat them in a 7 game series - that somehow seemed to be always in the Celtics control.

The Warriors, finished the season with a mediocre 11 - 12 record after the All Star Break. As a 3 seed, the Warriors had an easier than expected path to the finals. They faced a somewhat depleted Nuggets squad, then a fun to watch but "not ready for prime time" Grizzlies team, then played the Mavericks who surprisingly nocked off the number 1 seeded Suns.

Despite the apparent physical superiority of the Celtics, their stronger finish, and harder path through the playoffs; most of the pundantry seems to have already crowned the Warriors as champs. Most of the discussion on NBA radio yesterday seemed surround the topic if a Finals MVP for Steph Curry would place him in the discussion of all time greats. The possibility of the Warriors losing didn't seem to be realistically considered. Given that, I'm expecting the Celtics to come out with a giant chip on their shoulder in Game 1 and beat the Warriors soundly. I expect the Warriors to squeak out a close win in either Game 2 or Game 3 - but that's it. I'm saying Celtics in 5.

Of course injuries and or suspensions could play a major role in altering the outcome, but I think the pundant class is buyng into the invincability of the Warriors in the playoffs, which I believe is something of a myth. In the Warriors first Finals Championship they lost 2 games to a Cavs team that was missing Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. The following year, the Cavs beat the Warriors. Then Kevin Durant joins the Warriors and they're obviously much improved. I realize that there are those that believe that winning without Durant will be a motivating factor for the Warriors - and it might be - but it won't be enough. The Size, Speed, Strength, and Skill advantages of the Celtics will be too much for the Warriors.

There, I said it. Now let's see what happens...