The NBA Finals are finally set, and they will feature the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers battling it out for the third consecutive season. Plenty of other teams have made the finals three straight seasons. These teams are the New York Knicks (1951-53), Minneapolis Lakers (52-54), Boston Celtics (57-66), Los Angeles Lakers (68-70), Lakers (82-85), Celtics (84-87), Lakers (87-89), Detroit Pistons (88-90), Chicago Bulls (91-93), Bulls (96-98), Lakers (2000-02), Lakers (08-10) and the Miami Heat (11-14). None, however, has competed against the same team in consecutive years.
Beast from the East
Following Cleveland's dominating 135-102 win last night against the Boston Celtics, they are now 12-1 this year in the playoffs. Last night also marked LeBron James' passing Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all time scoring leader in the playoffs. It was also an NBA record 13th consecutive victory in potential series-closeout games for the Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers have also scored at least 100 points in all their playoff games. They have won 6 playoff games by 10 plus points and 3 by 20 plus points. This will be the seventh consecutive NBA Finals appearance for LeBron James and James Jones.
Best from the West
The Golden State Warriors have been utterly dominant on their way to being the first team in NBA history to enter the NBA Finals with a perfect 12-0 record.
The Warriors have also scored 100+ points in all their playoff games. They have also won 10 of their first 12 playoff games by 10 or more points. This includes 4 games in which they won by 20 or more. The Warriors enter the finals with an average margin of victory of 16.3 points, the highest mark in NBA history. The previous four teams with the highest scoring margin, Bulls (1996), Lakers (1987), Bucks (1971) and Lakers (2001), all went on to win the championship.
Three straight in a championship setting
As mentioned in the opening, this is the first time in NBA history that the same two teams will play each other in three consecutive NBA Finals. For the four major North America sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) it marks only the fourth time this has happened. The New York Giants and New York Yankees played in the World Series three straight seasons from 1921-24.
The Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns played in three straight NFL Championship games from 1952-54. Lastly, the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens played for the Stanley Cup three straight seasons from 1954-56.
