NBA Finals Preview

The 2022 NBA Playoffs are down to two teams. The Boston Celtics survived a 7-game series against the East’s No. 1 seed Miami to clinch their spot in the Finals while the Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games.

The Warriors, who are playing in the Finals for the sixth time in eight seasons, advanced relatively unscathed through the Western Conference Playoffs. The team lost just four games in the first three rounds, while the Celtics are coming off of back-to-back 7-game series in the last two rounds.

Game 1 of the Finals is at 9 p.m. (Eastern) on June 2 on ABC. The Warriors finished with a better regular season record by two games, so they’ll have home-court advantage in the series. Here are three things to watch as the series progresses.

Does experience matter?: If it does, the Celtics are in trouble. Golden State’s core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green has been rejuvenated this season. All three stars, particularly Thompson, have recovered from injury issues that plagued the team the past two seasons.

That core has won three championships and has arguably been the most dominant team in this year’s postseason.

The Celtics are led by two of the most dynamic young perimeter players in the league in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Tatum has ascended as maybe the best two-way threat in the league with his dominant offensive and defensive performances for Boston.

The Warriors are one of few teams in the league, led by Green, with the defensive personnel to make things consistently difficult on Boston’s stars. Gary Payton II should be healthy in time to play in the Finals, and Andrew Wiggins also had standout moments defensively during the Playoffs.

Speaking of defense: Boston has faced some of the league’s biggest stars throughout the Playoffs. They overcame Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in round one, Joel Embiid in round two, and a red-hot Jimmy Butler in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Stars always make plays no matter how good the defensive scheme against them is, but Boston had good success slowing each of those players down. They’ll face a different type of challenge with Curry, Thompson, and Jordan Poole on the perimeter. Marcus Smart, the Defensive Player of the Year, is physical enough to fight over screens, but Boston will also need big defensive performances from Brown and Tatum to close out on Golden State’s shooters.

The Celtics have shown they’re up for the challenge with one of the best defenses in the league, but Golden State’s array of shooters puts immense pressure on even elite defensive teams.

Series x-factors: Al Horford has long been one of the most respected and underrated players in the league. At age 36, he’ll be playing in the NBA Finals for the first time. Horford is more than a feel-good story, though. He’s been amazingly productive for Boston in this year’s playoffs. He’s scored 16 or more points six times in this year’s playoffs. When he’s providing complementary scoring and floor-spacing at that level, he makes Boston much tougher to defend offensively.

For the Warriors, Curry, Thompson, Green, and Poole have been known commodities throughout the playoffs. When Wiggins is assertive offensively, they’re almost unbeatable. Wiggins has found a great role as a wing defender and fourth or fifth option on offense. But his speed and athleticism could open up some driving opportunities against Boston’s defense as it will likely be focused on the Golden State shooters. If he’s aggressive throughout the series, he could turn it in Golden State’s favor.

Prediction: This Finals appearance is the first of what should be many for Tatum and Brown. But the Warriors, who are -159 favorites to win the series, are too deep and experienced. Golden State wins in six games.