2022 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr 4 Boston Celtics Ime Udoka 2
Dates	June 2–16
MVP	Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
Eastern finals	Celtics defeatedHeat, 4–3
Western finals	Warriors defeatedMavericks, 4–1
← 2021 NBA Finals 2023 →

The2022 NBA Finals was thechampionship series of theNational Basketball Association's (NBA)2021–22 season and conclusion of theseason's playoffs. In thisbest-of-seven playoff series, theWestern Conference championGolden State Warriors defeated theEastern Conference championBoston Celtics in six games, winning their fourth championship in eight years. Golden State'sStephen Curry was named theFinals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the first time in his career.

The Warriors were the no. 3 seed in the West, while the Celtics were the no. 2 in the East. Despite this, the Warriors hadhome-court advantage for finishing the regular season 2 games better than the Celtics, marking the first Finals since2019 that a lower-seeded team had home-court advantage. The Celtics won the opening game on the road and returned to Boston with the series tied 1–1. They won their first home game to take a 2–1 lead, but the Warriors won the next three games to take the series 4–2. Golden State won its first title since2018 and its seventh championship overall, while Boston, with 17 championships, remained tied with theLos Angeles Lakers for the most titles in league history.^[1] By winning their 18th title in2024, the Celtics were able to break this record.

The NBA Finals returned to its normal June schedule for the first time since2019, before theCOVID-19 pandemic began.^[2] The series started on June 2 and concluded on June 16. This edition of the Finals was a rematch of the1964 NBA Finals, in which the Celtics defeated the then-San Francisco Warriors in five games.^[3]

This was the second Finals meeting between the Celtics and the Warriors, after1964, where the Celtics defeated the Warriors (then the San Francisco Warriors) in five games to win their sixth consecutive title.

In the playoffs, from the first round until the conference finals,home-court advantage was given to a team with the higher seed. However, in the NBA Finals, this is given to the team with a better regular-season record, regardless of the seedings. The Warriors were the no. 3 seed in the West, while the Celtics were no. 2 in the East. The Warriors and the Celtics finished the regular season 53–29 and 51–31, respectively, giving the Warriors home-court advantage over the Celtics. This was the 11th time that a lower-seeded team had home-court advantage, the last time being2019.^[4] It was also the second straight finals without a no. 1 seed from either conference (after2021), and the 15th time overall.^[5][6]

During the 2021 offseason, the Celtics named head coachBrad Stevens president of basketball operations, replacingDanny Ainge after he announced his retirement.^[7] Stevens made his first transaction in his new position trading awayKemba Walker, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick in exchange forAl Horford,Moses Brown, and a 2023 second-round pick.^[8] Needing a replacement for Stevens,Brooklyn Nets assistant coachIme Udoka was hired as the new head coach. After starting the season 16–19 and in 10th place in theEastern Conference standings, the Celtics finished the regular season with a record of 51–31, winning 35 of their final 47 games to finish with the second-best record in the conference.^[9]

In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics won in a four-game sweep over the seventh-seededBrooklyn Nets, with numerous experts expecting a more competitive series as the Nets, withKevin Durant,Kyrie Irving and initiallyJames Harden before he was traded to thePhiladelphia 76ers, were seen as the preseason favorites.^[10] The Celtics then faced the 2021 Finals MVPGiannis Antetokounmpo and defending championMilwaukee Bucks, going down 3–2 in the series before eventually winning the series in seven games. After going down 2–1 in theconference finals against the first-seededMiami Heat led byJimmy Butler, the Celtics won in seven games, reaching the Finals for the first time since2010 and for the 22nd time in their history.^[11]

After reaching the Finals for five consecutive seasons (2015–2019), the Warriors were struck with injuries for the next two seasons, withKlay Thompson sitting out for the entire 2019–20 and 2020–21 campaigns, andStephen Curry playing a combined 68 games during that time span.^[12] In 2021–22, Golden State began the season winning 18 of their first 20 games.^[13] Curry became theNBA career leader in 3-pointers,^[14] and Thompson returned on January 9, 2022, his first NBA game in 941 days.^[15]Andrew Wiggins, acquired by the Warriors in 2020 after six seasons withMinnesota,^[16] was named a starter for the2022 NBA All-Star Game.^[17] The Warriors finished as the No. 3 seed in theWestern Conference with a record of 53–29.^[14][18][19]

In the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors got past the sixth-seededDenver Nuggets and 2022 league MVPNikola Jokić in five games, with Curry coming off the bench in four of the five games after he returned from a foot injury.^[20] The Warriors then eliminated the second-seededMemphis Grizzlies and the 2022NBA Most Improved Player,Ja Morant, beating them in six games. After defeating theDallas Mavericks in five games in the conference finals, the Warriors advanced to the Finals for the first time in three seasons, the sixth time in eight seasons, and the twelfth time in franchise history.^[21]

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot
• * – Division leader

The Warriors and Celtics tied the regular season series 1–1, with the away team winning each game.

Note: Times areEDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. For games in San Francisco, the local time is also given (PDT,UTC−7).

After playing 141 playoff games without an NBA Finals appearance,^[22]Al Horford helped lead the way for Boston with 26 points, including going on an 8–0 run by himself to give his team the lead in the fourth quarter as the Celtics outscored the Warriors 40–16.Jaylen Brown also helped spark a 17–0 run in the fourth, scoring 10 of his 24 points in the final quarter.Jayson Tatum had a poor shooting performance, going 3-for-17 from the field and scoring 12 points,^[23] but he finished with a career-high 13assists, the most ever for a player in his Finals debut.^[24] Boston's other fourstarters shot 30-for-50 (60%) in the game, along with shooting 12-for-23 (52%) from beyond the arc, as the Celtics hit their first seventhree-point attempts in the fourth.^[25]Marcus Smart added 18 points, andDerrick White came off thebench to score 21 points.^[26]

For the Warriors,Stephen Curry got off to a hot start, scoring 21 points and shooting 6-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, the most three-pointers made in a single quarter in Finals history.^[27] In addition, the 21 points were the most in a single quarter sinceMichael Jordan's 22 in the fourth quarter of Game 4 in 1993.^[28] But Curry struggled for the rest of the game, shooting 5-of-16 in the final three quarters as the Warriors blew a 92–80 lead heading into the fourth quarter.^[29] Despite collecting 11rebounds,Draymond Green shot just 2-for-12 from the field and 0-for-3 onfree throws,fouling out with a minute to go in the fourth.^[30]

The Celtics' comeback was the biggest in the Finals after three quarters since theChicago Bulls overcame a 15-point deficit to beat thePortland Trail Blazers in Game 6 in 1992.^[31] The win also brought the Celtics' record to 8–2 on the road this postseason, while the Warriors dropped to 9–1 at home. Both teams made a combined 40 three-pointers, the most ever in an NBA Finals game, surpassing the previous record of 35 set in 2017.^[32]

Curry scored 29 points and Golden State outscored Boston 35–14 in the third quarter to tie the series with a 107–88 win. The Warriors outscored the Celtics 43–14 from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth, transforming a tied game into a blowout.^[33]Jordan Poole added 17 points for Golden State, including a 3-point shot from 39 feet (12 m), just past midcourt, with only seconds left in the third quarter, giving them a 23-point lead.^[33][34] Boston committed 19turnovers, which the Warriors converted into 33 points.^[33]

Green had nine points, five rebounds, and seven assists for Golden State, but impacted the game with his aggressiveness on defense and physical play. He forced ajump ball on Horford 13 seconds into the game, and was the primary defender on Brown, holding him to 5-of-17 shooting.^[35][36] Tatum recovered from his poor shooting in Game 1, scoring 21 points in the first half of Game 2 on 7-of-16 shooting. Brown added 15 points in the first half, but Boston still trailed by two at halftime. In the third quarter, Tatum shot just twice in the third period, even though he played all 12 minutes. Horford scored just two points on four shots in the game after scoring 26 in the opener.^[34] The Celtics made just 37.5% of their shots in the game, scoring their fewest points since December 29, when they were 16–19.^[35]

The Warriors'Andre Iguodala missed the game due to inflammation in his right knee.^[33] TeammateGary Payton II, who played for the first time since fracturing his elbow one month earlier in the series against Memphis, scored seven points in 25 minutes.^[37]

Jaylen Brown (left) andJayson Tatum (right) combined for 53 points, with Tatum scoring 15 of his 26 in the second half.^[38]

Brown scored 27 points and Tatum had 26 in a 116–100 Boston win for a 2–1 series lead. The Celtics led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but Golden State again surged in the third quarter, outscoring Boston 33–25 behind 15 points from Curry. The Warriors briefly took the lead at 83–82, but the Celtics were back up at 93–89 at the end of the period. Boston outscored Golden State 23–11 in the fourth quarter.^[39] The Celtics were the more physical team,^[40] outscoring the Warriors 52–26 in thepaint and outrebounding them 47–31.^[39] Boston'sRobert Williams III had 10 rebounds and four of the team's sevenblocks.^[40]

Curry finished with 31 points and six 3-pointers, and Thompson added 25 points and five 3s.^[39] Green was held to two points, four rebounds, and three assists before fouling out for the second time in the series.^[41] He became the first player in Finals history to foul out after playing at least 34 minutes with less than five points, five rebounds and five assists.^[42] Curry was injured late in the fourth when Horford fell on his leg while chasing a loose ball.^[39] Green received his sixth foul, which ejected him from the game when he pushed a Celtic from the pile; Green said Curry was howling in pain at the bottom of the pileup. The following day, Curry was confident that he would play in Game 4, saying it was "just a pain tolerance thing that you've got to deal with". He said it was not as bad as the injury that kept him out for the final 12 games of the regular season when Boston's Smart rolled over his foot when they went for a loose ball.^[43]

Curry scored 43 points and had 10 rebounds in a 107–97 win to even the series 2–2. He made two baskets during a 10–0 run for the Warriors in the fourth quarter, turning a four-point Boston advantage into a 100–94 lead for Golden State. He played 41 minutes and made 14 of 26 shots in the game, including 7 of 14 on 3-pointers.^[44]Andrew Wiggins added 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Warriors, who outrebounded Boston in the game, 47–31, including 15–6 on the offensive end.^[45]

Golden State changed its starting lineup, replacingKevon Looney withOtto Porter Jr. Curry and the Tatum each scored 12 points in the first quarter, which ended with a 28–27 lead for Boston. Brown scored 10 points in the second quarter, giving the Celtics a 54–49 lead at halftime. There had been six lead changes in the game at that point, along with five ties. Curry scored 14 in the third for 33 going into the fourth. The teams were tied at 86 with eight minutes remaining.^[46] Boston led 94–90 with about five minutes left, but scored just once more, with 1:18 left.^[44][46] Golden State outscored them 17–3 to end the game, with Curry alone outscoring them 10–3.^[45]

Curry became the third Warriors player with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a Finals game, joiningRick Barry (1967) andKevin Durant (2018). He also joined Jordan andLeBron James as the only players age 34 or older to score 40 or more points in an NBA Finals contest.^[46] Green scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting, but added nine rebounds, eight assists and foursteals.^[44][47] Golden State head coachSteve Kerr benched him for parts of the fourth quarter, while Looney remained on the floor for his rebounding—11 in 28 minutes, along with aplus–minus of +21.^[45] The Warriors were down four points with around seven minutes remaining when Green was pulled, and went on an 11–3 run over the next four minutes before he returned.^[45][48] With his offensive struggles, he alternated offensive and defensive possessions with Poole.^[45][47] Tatum finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but made only one basket while playing the entire fourth quarter. Brown scored 21 points, and Williams had 12 rebounds.^[44]

Wiggins had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead Golden State to a 104–94 victory, placing them within a game of a championship. Thompson added 21 points to help the Warriors overcome an off night for Curry, who had 16 points and eight assists but went 0 for 9 from 3-point range.^[49] Boston was more aggressive indouble-teaming Curry beyond the 3-point line. Before Game 5, he had NBA-record streaks of 38 consecutive games with multiple 3-pointers, 132 straight playoff games with a least one 3-point basket, and 233 consecutive games with a 3-pointer in the regular season and postseason combined.^[50] Tatum had a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. Boston lost consecutive games for the first time in these playoffs.^[49][51]

The Warriors led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter. Boston whittled away at the lead with Curry on the bench, but he made a layup to give Golden State a 51–39 advantage at halftime. Wiggins had 16 points and seven rebounds at the break, and Green was forceful with 8 points after totaling just 17 in the first four games. The Warriors were moving the ball well but shot just 3 for 17 on 3-pointers in the first half. Tatum had 13 points and eight rebounds to keep Boston in the game. After the break, the Celtics scored the first 10 points of the second half and took the lead after a 19–4 run.^[51] They made eight consecutive 3s after missing their first 12 of the game,^[49] while Golden State missed their first eight in the second half.^[51] Poolebanked in a 33-foot (10 m) three-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer, giving the Warriors a 75–74 lead to enter the fourth.^[49][51]

Thompson shot 7 for 14 and made five 3-pointers. The Warriors were 9 of 40 on their 3s, including 0 of 6 from Wiggins. Green, who fouled out with 3:01 left, exited with eight points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Golden State got 15 points off the bench from Payton and 14 from Poole. Boston shot 11 of 32 from behind the arc, with Brown going 0 for 5 and shooting 5 of 18 overall; he finished with 18 points. Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds.^[49]

Coming into the game, Golden State was 0–3 in closeout games on the road, and the Celtics were 3–0 when facing elimination.^[52] Boston took a 14–2 lead to start the game, but made just one basket in the final 3:30 of the first quarter, and Golden State led 27–22 at the end of the period.^[53] The Warriors forced 12 turnovers in the first half and used a 21–0 run to take a 54–39 halftime lead.^[54] The 21–0 run was the longest such run in modern Finals history.^[55] They expanded their lead to 22 before the Celtics rallied to trail 76–66 after three quarters.^[56] Golden State maintained its lead through the fourth quarter to win the game 103–90 for its fourth NBA title in eight seasons.^[57] This was the second time that a road team won an NBA championship in Boston, the other being theLos Angeles Lakers in1985.^[58]

Curry scored 34 points in the game, shooting 12-of-21 overall and 6-of-11 on 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.^[59] He was voted theFinals MVP for the first time in his career, unanimously selected after averaging 31.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the series.^[60] He scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games in Boston, the first player to do so in the playoffs sinceLeBron James in 2017.^[61] Green scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds, recording eight assists with two steals and two blocks. He also hit two 3-pointers after missing his first 12 attempts of the series.^[59] Head coach Steve Kerr won his ninth championship overall, after winning five as a player.^[62] He became the sixth coach to capture four titles, joiningPhil Jackson,Red Auerbach,John Kundla,Gregg Popovich, andPat Riley.^[63] The Warriors also became the first team to go from the NBA's worst record (2019–20) to a championship within three seasons.^[57] With the win, the Warriors earned their seventh double-digit comeback win this postseason, tying the2011 and2012Miami Heat for the most double-digit comeback wins by any team in the past 25 postseasons.^[52]

Brown led the Celtics with 34 points but Tatum finished with 13, shooting just 6-of-18 from the field. The Celtics' bench also performed poorly, getting just five points on 2-for-10 shooting from the field from their primary reserves—White,Grant Williams, andPayton Pritchard.^[64] Boston also committed 22 turnovers, dropping to 1–8 this postseason when committing 16 or more. Tatum set the NBA record for most turnovers in a single postseason with 100.^[65] The Celtics' Finals series record dropped to 17–5, remaining tied with the Lakers for the most championships in league history until2024, where they won their 18th title.^[66][67]

• Bold: team high
• Source:^[68]

On April 13, the NBA released a reimagined version of the classic NBA Finals wordmark that was used between 1986 and 1995 and from 2004 to 2017. The new logo also features a depiction of theLarry O'Brien Championship Trophy in the background.^[69]

The NBA then announced on May 12 that the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy and theBill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Trophy have also been redesigned. Among the new changes to the Larry O'Brien Trophy, its base now consists of two disks that list the names of all the previous winning teams. The Bill Russell Trophy has been changed from a gold ball and silver net to primarily gold with silver accents.^[70]

With NBA commissionerAdam Silver missing games 5 and 6 due to the league's health and safety protocols, the Larry O'Brien Trophy was presented to the Warriors by deputy commissionerMark Tatum instead.^[71]

The Finals was televised in the United States byABC (which included local affiliatesWCVB-TV in Boston andKGO-TV in San Francisco) for the 20th consecutive year.^[72]

Lead play-by-play announcerMike Breen and lead analystJeff Van Gundy both missed Game 1 due to COVID-19 protocols.^[73]ESPN's No. 2 play-by-play announcer,Mark Jones, filled in for Breen during games 1 and 2. Jones,Mark Jackson andLisa Salters made history in Game 1 as the first all-African American broadcast team to cover an NBA Finals game.^[74] Van Gundy returned to the broadcast booth for Game 2, followed by Breen in Game 3.^[75]

ESPN put together aMegacast option for Game 1 calledNBA Finals: Celebrating 75, hosted byMichael Eaves alongsideNew Orleans Pelicans guardCJ McCollum andTim Legler. It was broadcast onESPN2 due to ESPN's commitments to have theWomen's College World Series on the main network.^[76]

In the2022-2023 season, the team struggled almost immediately. During a team practice on October 5, 2022,Jordan Poole and teammateDraymond Green got into an altercation, resulting in Green striking Poole with a punch.^[83]TMZ published a leaked video on October 7, showing the punch but not what led to the incident. On October 9, Green publicly apologized for the incident and announced that he would spend a few days away from the team.^[84] On October 12, the team fined Green for the altercation as opposed to the suspected suspension.^[85]

This incident essentially loomed over the season. Poole, who starred during their NBA Finals run in 2022, struggled throughout the season. As for the team, the Warriors had an uneven season, having the worst records on the road while also having one of the best at home. They finished with a winning record for the tenth time in the previous eleven seasons, and clinched the sixth seed in theplayoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, they eliminated the third-seededSacramento Kings in seven games, withStephen Curry scoring a then-record 50 points in aGame 7. However, the Warriors 18–0 record underSteve Kerr in Western Conference playoff series ended after their defeat to theLos Angeles Lakers in theWestern Conference Semifinals in six games. The series pitted old foesLeBron James and Stephen Curry; with this backdrop and considering the potential to be their last meeting in the playoffs, the series averaged 7.8 million viewers acrossESPN,TNT, andABC, making most-watched Conference Semifinals in 27 years.^[86]

After the season, Kerr said the Warriors were not a championship team due to a lack of trust on the team, in part due to Green's punching Poole,^[87] and Green blamed their early playoff exit on his punch.^[88] Poole was later traded in the off-season toWashington. A year later,Klay Thompson left the team in free agency to sign with theMavericks.

The Celtics would have their own controversy surrounding head coachIme Udoka. On September 22, 2022, head coach Udoka was suspended until June 30, 2023, for a violation of the team's code of conduct, following a team investigation into an inappropriate relationship between himself and a female Celtics staff member.^[89][90] The relationship was consensual, but nevertheless broke team rules. As a result, assistant coachJoe Mazzulla was named interim head coach and later given the position full time in February.

Under Mazzulla, the Celtics managed to improve on their previous season's record by six games, finishing with a 57–25 record and achieving their most regular season wins since 2009. The team, however, struggled all postseason long, taking six games to defeat an inferiorAtlanta Hawks team in the first round, and needing a 3–2 series comeback to defeat their rivalsPhiladelphia 76ers in the next round (coincidentally,Jayson Tatum surpassed Curry's Game 7 record from earlier in the playoffs with 51 points). In theEastern Conference Finals, the Celtics fell down 0–3 in the series versus the eighth-seededMiami Heat, only to mount a comeback to force a Game 7. In the Game 7, the Celtics were discombobulated from the start, as they missed their first 12 three-point attempts and finished the game shooting 21% from deep. Jayson Tatum also turned his ankle on the first play and wasn't the same after. They lost the 103–84, thus ending their once promising season.

The Celtics made two bold moves before following season. On June 22, 2023, the team traded longtime Celtic and reigningDefensive Player of the Year,Marcus Smart, in a package that acquired stretch big manKristaps Porziņģis. Their second reimagining of the team occurred just before training camp, when the Celtics acquiredJrue Holiday in a three-team deal that also sent star guardDamian Lillard to Milwaukee andRobert Williams III, reigningSixth Man of the YearMalcolm Brogdon, and draft compensation to Portland. Porziņģis gave the Celtics a three-point threat and insurance for the agingAl Horford, while Holiday gave the team championship experience to a team that lacked it, as Holiday had won a ring with the2021 Milwaukee Bucks. These moves, along with the continued evolution of theBrown and Tatum duo, put the Celtics over the top in2023-2024. They won 64 games in the regular season and lost just three games in the playoffs. In theFinals, they defeated theDallas Mavericks in five games to win their 18th championship in franchise history and break a tie with theLos Angeles Lakers for most NBA championships.

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