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| Dates | June 2–16 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Celtics defeated Heat, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Warriors defeated Mavericks, 4–1 | |||||||||
The 2022 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2021–22 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics in six games, winning their fourth championship in eight years. Golden State's Stephen Curry was named the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the first time in his career.
The 3-seeded Warriors (53–29) had home-court advantage in the series because they had a better regular-season record than the 2-seeded Celtics (51–31). This was the 11th time that a lower-seeded team had home-court advantage, the last time being 2019.[1] It was also the second straight finals without a no. 1 seed from either conference, and the 15th time overall.[2][3] 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 since 2018 and its seventh championship overall, while Boston, with 17 championships, remained tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most titles in league history until 2024.[4]
The NBA Finals returned to its normal June schedule for the first time since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.[5] The series started on June 2 and concluded on June 16. This edition of the Finals was a rematch of the 1964 NBA Finals, in which the Celtics defeated the then-San Francisco Warriors in five games.[6]
- ^ Skiver, Kevin (June 2, 2022). "Who has home court advantage in the NBA Finals? Why 3-seed Warriors are hosting 2-seed Celtics". Sporting News. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Molski, Max (May 31, 2022). "How important is home-court advantage in the NBA Finals?". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Mullin, Eric (May 30, 2022). "Warriors vs. Celtics the latest NBA Finals without a No. 1 seed". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Mullin, Eric (June 17, 2022). "NBA teams with the most championships after Warriors beat Celtics". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ McGregor, Gilbert (May 27, 2022). "NBA Finals schedule 2022: Full dates, times, TV channels & live streams". Sporting News. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- ^ Jenkins, Bruce (June 4, 2022). "Chamberlain vs. Russell, Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals of '64 remains all-time epic meeting". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 5, 2022.