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Have these NBA playoffs been awesome? No, not really. There have been lots of blowouts, overmatched series, and injuries.
But now we have the last two teams standing and you know what? I think the NBA Finals are going to be pretty fantastic.
Now, if you know me at all then you know I tend to be wrong quite a bit but whatever – I’m excited for the Finals and I think you should be, too, because the Celtics vs. Warriors is the perfect matchup to battle for the title.
Let me explain why I’m in love with this series.
1. The Golden State Warriors are back.
Remember just a few years ago when the Warriors were in the Finals every year? Remember when they became the villains by adding Kevin Durant and winning another title? Well, the last two years were pretty bleak for Steph Curry and Co. as KD left for the Nets, Klay Thompson missed two full seasons with injuries, the Warriors missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Now they are back, though, and it’s a lot of fun seeing the re-vamped Warriors being in contention again because that means we get to see Curry doing cool things, which good if you like to watch fun basketball.
2. The Celtics’ young stars got over the hump.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart are finally going to the Finals after beating the Heat in a thrilling Game 7 last Sunday night. The two young stars had lost in the Eastern Conference two times before and now that they have made the jump to the next level it will be great to see how they handle the biggest of basketball stages. Oh, and they get test themselves against a team full of big-name players who have all been there many times before. So it’s young vs. old, which should be a great storyline to follow.
3. The Celtics are the Celtics.
The Celtics are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports and have the chance to win their 18th title, which would put them back in front of the Lakers, who won their 17th a few years ago. The Finals always feel little more juiced up when legendary franchises are in it and that’s what we’re getting here with Boston in the Finals for the first time since 2010.
4. These teams are stacked and match up well.
If you can’t get excited for Curry-Klay-Draymond-Wiggins-Poole vs Tatum-Brown-Smart-Horford-Williams then I don’t know if basketball is for you.
The two teams split the season series, with the Warriors winning 111-107 in Boston in December and the Celtics winning 110-88 in San Francisco in March.
This Warriors lineup is a lot of fun to watch and they create a ton of matchup problems for their opponents. But the Celtics are one of the best defensive teams in the league and it will be interesting to see what they can do to slow down Curry and Co.
This has all the makings of being a great one and I can’t wait for Game 1 Thursday night.
Quick hits: Golf fan’s amazing beer deal… Pirates OF’s incredible catch… Ranking the remaining NHL teams… And more.
– Do you remember that golf fan at the PGA Championship who was seen holding his beer and just taking in life while watching Tiger Woods hit a shot at the PGA Championship earlier this month? Well, he scored a pretty awesome deal with Michelob Ultra.
– I don’t know if you saw this home run-robbing catch by Pirates left fielder Ben Gamel but you should take a second and watch it now because it was incredible.
– There are now four teams left in the NHL playoffs and Mary Clarke ranks them heading into the conference finals.
– A Yankees prospect had an incredible bat flip fail that led to the last out of a game.
