2022 NBA Champions: The Golden State Warriors

A 104 game season ends in a Championship for the team from the Bay Area and their Championship run has been nothing short of impressive. 

The Warriors handled the MVP in the first round, winning in 5 games. It was a short but decisive series and before the series even started, it was expected the Warriors win in the dominant way they did. The reigning back to back MVP did all he could but it wasn't enough without consistent help from his teammates. Curry, Thompson, and Poole were outstanding in this series and combined for 72 points per game. Nikola Jokic averaged an impressive 31/13/ 6 but did not have a teammate average over 15 ppg in the series and their lack of a second and third option made it impossible to keep up with a team like Golden State. 

The Western Conference Semifinals were a very interesting series. A new rivalry formed earlier this season after Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks took a shot at 3 time Champion with the Warriors and former Grizzlie, Andre Iguodala. Brooks made the comment: "We all had the vision. He didn't, which is perfect. Send him back to the Warriors and let him do his thing over there," after the shorthanded Grizzlies beat the Warriors in a regular season game. Their center took to social media (as their team often does) and tweeted "Strength in Numbers" which is a very iconic Warriors playoff slogan. This series absolutely did not disappoint and we got 6 very eventful games

• Game 1: Draymond gets ejected
• Game 2: Brooks gets ejected / Morant tells Curry "we're gonna have some fun"
• Game 3: Brooks gets suspended / Ja Morant tweets that Jordan Poole intentionally injured him 
• Game 4: Curry go-ahead free throws with 40 seconds left in the game 
  
• Game 5: Warriors lose by 40 in a game that Morant does not play in / Draymond goes viral on social for dancing to the Grizzlies hype song
• Game 6: Warriors put away the Grizzlies / Steph does his "goodnight" taunt 

The Western Conference Finals were a very straight forward series. The Warriors were just the better team and there was absolutely no doubt about that. There were moments in the Grizzlies series where you could see that they might have it in them to win this series. The Nuggets had a moment in Game 4 as well but there was no doubt that the Warriors were so obviously the better team in the West Finals. No one predicted the Mavericks to beat the best-record-in-the-NBA Suns but shocked the league when they blew out the Suns in Phoenix to win the series 4-3. The Mavs turned out to be the better team in that series but a Suns/Warriors matchup would have been much more entertaining than Mavs/Warriors. 

The Warriors were dominant in the Finals. They got superstar performances from Steph Curry and the rest of the team knew their roles and executed them to the highest level.  Steph Curry finally got his Finals MVP, an accolade that seemed to be missing from his already first ballot HOF resume. The core 4 of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala got their 4th ring together. 

The Celtics had an impressive run but ultimately struggled when they went up against such a complete team like the Warriors. No doubt that their Eastern Conference run was impressive, taking down the Nets, Bucks, and Heat in the process but all those teams had one thing in common: their benches was weak. The Celtics made the stars work for everything and forced role players to take the shots. They played some talented players but none could match up to what Steph Curry could do and ultimately it was him who led the team to a Championship so he ends the season with a well deserved Finals MVP. 

While the 2022 season has come to an end...the 2023 season is just around the corner. 

• 4 days til the NBA Draft.
• 11 days til Free Agency. 
• 18 days til Summer League.

Should be a fun Summer...