The NBA has been around for 75 years as it celebrates its Birthday on 6th June, established in 1946. In that time we have had 74 Championship winners with the winner of Warriors vs Celtics becoming the 75th.
Who was the team with the worst record to go to the NBA Finals? (pre-1961)
Pre-1961 NBA teams played less than 75 games so we’ve split this into pre-1961 and post-1961.
The pre-1961 winner? The Minneapolis Lakers in 1959. They finished the 1958-1959 regular season with a 33-39 record with a winner percentage of .402.
The Minneapolis Lakers made it all the way to the finals beating Detroit and the St Louis Hawkes. Unfortunately, this team lost to the Boston Celtics in the finals.
Who was the team with the worst record to go to the NBA Finals? (post-1961)
The team with the worst record to go to the NBA finals post-1961 was again… The Los Angeles Lakers. They had a 49-31 record in 80 games played, reaching the finals but lost to again… The Celtics.
The Championship winner with the worst regular season
Answer: The Washington Bullets in 1978. They had a record of 44-38 in 82 games with a winning percentage of .537
The Golden State Warriors have won Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center last night. The Warriors are now in the lead this series 3-2 and are 1 game away from winning the 2021-2022 NBA Finals.
Game 5 was anticipated to be a Celtics win, according to betting sites like Fanduel and looking at the box score shows it could quite easily have been. Steph had a subpar night and Draymond posted his usual triple single. The Celtics, who played well in the 3rd quarter, made only 4 field goals in the 4th including 1 that was in garbage time. The Celtics were outscored 29-14 before the starters got pulled with a minute left in the game.
The free throw disparity was noticable with Boston hitting 21-31. Celtics players spent much of the game complaining to refs byt had double the amount of free throws. Golden State hit 13-15. This is such an easy way to rack up points, and something the Celtics didn’t take advantage of. The Warriors also shot 23% as a team from 3..
Boston’s bench were outclassed today. The Warriors’ bench players scored 31 points while Boston’s only scored 10. Poole hit another playoff buzzer beater to end the 3rd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZmEXJADy_0
Andrew Wiggins
The MVP of this game was clearly Andrew Wiggins who racked up 26 points and 13 rebounds. He has shot up to number 2 on the Finals MVP list behind Steph and seemed to realise that he is quick enough to blow past defenders at will this game. His impressive rebounding has been vital to some of these stretches where the Warriors have gone on runs.
Stephen Curry
Steph had a bit of a bad night to Steph standards. He lost his playoff streak of consecutive games with at least one 3 point make at 132. Curry racked up 16 points and 8 assists but went 0-9 from 3 point range. It seems Boston finally stopped the drop coverage on him, and doubled him consistantly, which started their motion offence. Interesting to note that the last time Curry lost his streak for the regular season he then hit 13 3 pointers and breaking the record the next game…
Opposite Day?
Curry had an underwhelming performance hitting zero 3s
Wiggins didn’t put up his usual 17ish points but got 26
Warriors played well to start, Celtics had a strong 3rd quarter and let it slip in the 4th
The Warriors were getting flopping calls on Marcus Smart
Celtics got technicals for yelling at refs
Draymond played well, and didn’t foul out
Is it opposite day?
Game 5 Highlights
Player Stats
Boston Celtics
MIN
PTS
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
ORB
DRB
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PF
** /-**
Jayson TatumSF
44:25
27
10-20
5-9
2-6
0
10
10
4
0
0
4
3
-13
Al HorfordPF
32:50
9
3-6
2-3
1-2
1
8
9
1
0
0
2
1
-19
Robert Williams IIIC
30:14
10
4-5
0-0
2-2
3
5
8
2
0
0
0
2
11
Jaylen BrownSG
44:03
18
5-18
0-5
8-10
3
6
9
4
1
0
5
2
-19
Marcus SmartPG
39:42
20
7-15
3-6
3-4
0
3
3
2
0
0
4
4
-9
Derrick White
21:24
1
0-4
0-3
1-2
0
1
1
3
1
0
0
1
-13
Grant Williams
16:04
3
1-2
0-1
1-1
0
3
3
1
0
2
2
3
-18
Payton Pritchard
4:41
0
0-3
0-3
0-0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
Nik Stauskas
1:19
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
Juwan Morgan
1:19
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
6
Aaron Nesmith
1:19
3
0-1
0-1
3-4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
Sam Hauser
1:19
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
6
Luke Kornet
1:19
3
1-1
1-1
0-0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
6
Malik Fitts
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Daniel Theis
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Golden State Warriors
MIN
PTS
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
ORB
DRB
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PF
** /-**
Andrew WigginsSF
42:32
26
12-23
0-6
2-3
1
12
13
2
2
1
0
2
12
Otto Porter Jr.PF
14:37
2
1-3
0-2
0-0
0
2
2
0
0
1
0
2
6
Draymond GreenC
34:59
8
3-6
0-2
2-2
1
7
8
7
1
0
2
6
11
Klay ThompsonSG
39:37
21
7-14
5-11
2-2
0
3
3
2
2
0
1
4
13
Stephen CurryPG
37:07
16
7-22
0-9
2-3
0
3
3
8
1
0
1
2
15
Kevon Looney
16:45
2
1-2
0-0
0-0
1
3
4
3
0
0
1
5
12
Gary Payton II
26:09
15
6-8
1-3
2-2
1
4
5
1
3
0
0
3
16
Jordan Poole
14:17
14
4-8
3-6
3-3
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
Andre Iguodala
3:56
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
-4
Nemanja Bjelica
4:43
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
-9
Jonathan Kuminga
1:19
0
0-1
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-6
Damion Lee
1:19
0
0-1
0-1
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-6
Moses Moody
1:19
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-6
Juan Toscano-Anderson
1:19
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
-6
Game 6 and 7
Game 6 is on 16th June in Boston.
Game 7 (if needed) is on 19th June back in San Francisco.
Do you think the Celtics can beat the Warriors twice in a row? Will Steph be snubbed of another Finals MVP by his teammate Andrew Wiggins?
Steph Curry put on a masterclass at The Garden last night, up there with one of his best performances, winning the game and tying the series 2 – 2.
Steph Curry
Steph had 43 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists against a team with the defence that the Celtics has is a legendary performance. Steph went 14-26 from the field, hit 7-14 3s and went 8-9 from the free throw line.
Curry has shot to the top of the Finals MVP predictions table, an award that would round out his Hall of Fame career.
Game 4 Highlights
Draymond Green
Draymond had another bad night offensively scoring only 2 points and going 1-7 from the field. Steve Kerr pulled Draymond out of the game and was using him intermittently during the 4th where he had some key defensive plays. He did grab 9 rebounds and have 8 assists but spent much of the game arguing with refs – who in fairness, were consistantly bad tonight. A good example of this was Curry’s deep 3 make through a lot of contact that the refs didn’t call. Curry was not happy:
Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins had another great game in the finals, taking a small percentage of the scoring load of Curry with 17 points. The main story from Wiggins was his 16 rebounds which is a career high for him – great time for a career high. In the words of Kawhi Leonard, ‘board man gets paid’.
Player stats
Golden State Warriors
MIN
PTS
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
ORB
DRB
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PF
+/-
Andrew WigginsSF
43:25
17
7-17
2-6
1-2
3
13
16
2
1
0
2
2
+20
Otto Porter Jr.PF
14:30
2
0-2
0-2
2-2
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
-1
Draymond GreenC
32:57
2
1-7
0-2
0-0
5
4
9
8
4
0
2
3
0
Klay ThompsonSG
40:49
18
7-17
4-10
0-0
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
4
+2
Stephen CurryPG
40:41
43
14-26
7-14
8-9
2
8
10
4
0
0
5
3
+11
Kevon Looney
28:09
6
3-4
0-0
0-0
4
7
11
2
1
1
3
3
+21
Gary Payton II
9:54
5
2-3
0-1
1-2
1
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
-1
Jordan Poole
20:32
14
6-13
2-7
0-0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
+2
Nemanja Bjelica
9:00
0
0-2
0-1
0-0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
-4
Andre Iguodala
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Jonathan Kuminga
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Damion Lee
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Moses Moody
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Juan Toscano-Anderson
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Boston Celtics
MIN
PTS
FGM-A
3PM-A
FTM-A
ORB
DRB
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PF
+/-
Jayson TatumSF
42:40
23
8-23
4-8
3-5
3
8
11
6
1
3
6
3
+1
Al HorfordPF
28:05
8
2-6
2-6
2-2
0
6
6
4
0
1
1
3
-11
Robert Williams IIIC
31:27
7
3-3
0-0
1-2
4
8
12
4
1
2
0
0
+6
Jaylen BrownSG
39:42
21
9-19
2-6
1-2
2
4
6
2
1
0
2
5
0
Marcus SmartPG
39:57
18
7-18
3-9
1-1
2
2
4
5
4
0
2
2
-17
Derrick White
35:33
16
4-12
3-5
5-5
0
1
1
1
1
0
3
0
-19
Grant Williams
12:32
3
1-2
1-2
0-0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
4
-10
Payton Pritchard
10:04
1
0-2
0-2
1-2
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
Malik Fitts
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Sam Hauser
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Luke Kornet
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Juwan Morgan
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Aaron Nesmith
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Nik Stauskas
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Daniel Theis
0:00
0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
With the series all tied, and coming back to Golden State, how do we feel this series is going to go?
The Celtics have taken a lead in the series against the Golden State Warriors, winning Game 3 116 – 100. The Celtics are now up 2 – 1 in the series with Game 4 being on the 10th of June back in Boston.
Boston Celtics
The MVP of the game was Jaylen Brown who had 27 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He kept Boston ahead with his offence. The Celtics role players also shined, contrastingly to game 2 – Robert Williams had himself a block party and was a force in the paint. He kept the Warriors shooting from distance without getting anything easy at the rim.
Game 3 Highlights
Golden State Warriors
Draymond had another bad game fouling out again. He now has fouled out 15 times in the Finals, and scored 15 points… He was clearly frustrated, here you can see him being very agressive with Jayson Tatum, a player who he knows has injured his shoulder recently.
Draymond finished with 2 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists along with the 6 fouls. His stats in the playoffs so far: 15 PTS 26.3 FG% 0-7 3P 5-10 FT
The Celtics continue to play drop coverage on Curry, which allows him to wide open 3s, however even his offence could not keep the Warriors in the contest tonight. Klay has yet to play consistantly like his former self and Wiggins seems to be consistantly Wiggins.
A scramble and fall meant that Curry’s leg got injured during the game, and there were worries that he would be out for Game 4. Shams has tweeted that there is optimism that Curry will be okay:
There is optimism today on Warriors star Stephen Curry’s status for Game 4 of the NBA Finals vs. Boston on Friday, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. It appears Curry won't need MRI, has avoided major issue with his left foot, and will attend Golden State's afternoon practice.