Dynasty restored, Warriors down Celtics to claim fourth title in eight seasons
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with teammates after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Perhaps everyone should have just listened when Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and others vowed that Golden State would reclaim its place at the top of the league hierarchy. Such proclamations seemed fanciful when the Warriors went 15-50 two years ago, but nothing can quantify the franchise’s championship culture — an institutional belief that it belongs among the best.
At times, it looked as if that might be too tall a task. Though the Warriors made quick work of Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets in the first round and Luka Doncic’s Mavericks in the Western Conference finals, they struggled to get by a tenacious young Grizzlies team that was without go-to option Ja Morant for the final three games of the second round. In the Finals, Golden State dug a 2-1 series hole as it labored against the Celtics’ size and physicality.
It’s difficult to overstate how rare this all is. When the Warriors became the first team since the 1985 Lakers to claim a title on Boston’s famed parquet Thursday, they completed a journey never seen before in the NBA. Curry , Thompson and Green have now won 21 Finals games. That’s the most by an All-NBA trio in the past 50 years, eclipsing the 19 Finals wins the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili totaled together.