Category: Basketball

Despite being up by as many as 15 points in Game 1, Golden State still couldn’t close the deal in the fourth quarter and are now down 1-0 after losing to the Boston Celtics, 120-108.

Stephen Curry deserves a lot of credit for the Warriors leading for much of the game after scoring 34 points, five rebounds, and five assists. His 21 points in the first quarter were the most scored in a quarter in the NBA Finals since Michael Jordan had 22 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 against the Phoenix Suns in 1993. 

Curry’s six three-pointers also set a Finals record for most triples in a single quarter; the previous record was five made triples in a quarter. He shared the record with Ray Allen and Kenny Smith.

However, despite the spectacular exploits of the only unanimous MVP in NBA history, the Boston Celtics were never too far behind through the first three-quarters of Game 1. Yes, they were down by 15 at one point in the third quarter, but the Celtics were routinely able to cut any deficit down, tying the game up five times and exchanging leads up to nine.

Boston bided its time until the final frame, knocking down their first seven three-point attempts to outscore the Warriors 40-16. The onslaught was led by Jaylen Brown (24 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Al Horford (26 points, six boards, and a Finals-debut record six threes), who scored a combined 21 points to help Boston retake the lead late in the fourth quarter.

Horford scored 14 points during Boston’s decisive 17-0 run to take Game 1, giving Boston a lead it wouldn’t give up after scoring eight straight points, including back-to-back three-pointers late in the fourth quarter. Boston also kept Golden State scoreless for nearly five minutes as they scored 17 unanswered, only ceding two meaningless field goals to Klay Thompson and Nemanja Bjelica over the final 69 seconds of the game.

“They gotta good defense,” Draymond Green (four points, 11 rebounds, five dimes), “We knew that coming in. There was no surprises; we know what they wanna get to on the defensive side and how they like to play; they know what we’re tryna get to. So, yeah, no surprises, they are who we thought they were, and now we’ll watch the clips, watch the film and figure out what we need to do to attack it.”

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“They are who we thought they were.”

Draymond Green addressed the media after Game 1 of the #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/PtWlkoMNr3

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 3, 2022

Green elaborated a bit more on his thoughts a moment later during his press conference. In his eyes, the Warriors were dominant for as much as “the first 41, 42 minutes” of the game. However, Golden State trailed in the first half at one point, and their most dominant stretch came in the third quarter when they built a 15-point lead and outscored the Celtics by 14 points.

Green also pointed out that Boston hit 21 three-pointers in Game 1, the bulk of which came from Horford, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White, who hit a combined 15 long-range bombs. Green directly downplayed the hot shooting of Smart and White, saying:

“They hit 21 threes, and Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Derrick White combined for 15,” Green said. “Those guys are good shooters, but they combined for what, 15 out of eight, Smart seven, eight, 15-23. Is my math right? Eight, seven, and eight. Eight, seven, and eight. Yea, that’s 23, right? 15-for-23 from those guys. Eh. We’ll be fine.”

To counterpoint, Horford went from hitting 33.6 percent of his regular-season three-point attempts to improving that mark to 46.3 percent in the playoffs. White was shooting 20.8 percent from deep before catching fire over the last three games, managing to hit 11 out of his previous 18 three-point attempts, good enough for a 61.1 percent clip over his last three outings. Smart is hitting threes at a 34.5 percent clip also.

“They stayed within striking distance, and they made shots late,” Green said. “We’ll be fine. We’ll figure out the ways we can stop them from getting those threes and take them away. I don’t think it was a rhythm thing. We pretty much dominated the game for the first 41, 42 minutes, so we’ll be fine.”

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Draymond Green: “We pretty much dominated the game for the first 41, 42 minutes. So, we’ll be fine.” pic.twitter.com/5eXa49pIFp

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) June 3, 2022

Regardless, the championship core of the Warriors and Coach Steve Kerr will have some time in between now and Game 2 to readjust and formulate a new game plan. The Warriors will look to tie the series up and retake home-court advantage with a win Game 2 win on Sunday before the series shifts to TD Garden in Boston.

The last time Al Horford was on the national stage with this much on the line was during his time in college when he was fighting to win back-to-back national titles with Florida back in 2007. After 15 years in the NBA, Horford is finally back on that championship stage with the Celtics.

It’s almost as if Horford knew this was going to happen. In a way, you could sorta say he did. When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Horford back to Boston last summer, one of the first things he did was text Jayson Tatum to let him know he saw the Celtics’ potential and was looking forward to playing in the Finals.

“It’s one of these things that I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Horford said, “I know it’s different, but I played in a similar stage in college. Those type of games, I just felt comfortable out here, and I wanted to project that to the group.”

“I wanted to make sure that our guys came out here, play free, understand that this is just a game, and just go out there and have fun.”

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“I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Al Horford talked to @SHAQ about his performance in the Game 1 win for the @celtics. pic.twitter.com/0NlDaRkX0M

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 3, 2022

Horford played a pivotal role in Boston’s 120-108 come-from-behind win over the Warriors. The five-time All-Star finished Game 1 with a team-high 26 points, six rebounds, and three assists on a Finals-debut record 6-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

The former Florida Gator choose the fourth quarter to shine the brightest in Boston’s win. Horford scored 11 points in the final frame, including back-to-back triples and a mid-range jumper, to give the Celtics a lead they would never give up. Horford’s key three-pointers powered a decisive 17-0 run that allowed Boston to outscore the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth.

“It was the way that we were moving the ball on offense,” Horford said per NBCSports. “Just being in those positions, I felt like the guys kept finding me time after time. Derrick White hit some tough shots there too. Get some looks, knock ’em down, that’s that.”

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A 4Q surge helped us take Game 1, as we closed out with a 120-108 finish against the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/BoxdYNVfVF

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 3, 2022

Boston didn’t allow a single Warrior field goal for nearly five minutes during that game-altering run. The Celtics’ shocking win to steal home-court advantage came on a night when Horford and Jaylen Brown (24 points, seven rebounds, five assists)had to carry the scoring load due to Tatum’s jumper being off on Thursday.

Even as Golden State built a lead as large as 15 through the first three-quarters, Boston was right there, bidding their time until they could strike. When they did, Golden State had no answers for Horford or Brown, who scored a combined 21 points when it mattered the most in Game 1.

“The group that started the fourth quarter, I think, did a great job setting the tone,” Horford said. “Jaylen attacking, Rob got a lob dunk, and that just kinda got us going, and from that point on, we felt like we’re gonna stay solid continue to fight, and that’s what we did.”

Horford’s confident prediction has come true nearly one year after that fateful trade. Boston is indeed back in the Finals after a grueling revenge tour through the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Celtics beat the Nets, Bucks, and Heat on their way to their first Finals trip since 2010. After Thursday’s Game 1 win, Horford has the Celtics in the driver’s seat, up 1-0 on the Warriors.

The Celtics and Warriors will play again on Sunday in Chase Center, with Boston looking to take a commanding 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to TD Garden.

Even as Golden State continued to build their lead through the first 36 minutes of action, Boston never gave up. The Warriors did everything correctly through the first three-quarters of the game, hitting 17-35 three-pointers and leading by as much as 15 points going into the fourth-quarter.

But Boston never stopped coming back at them. The team with no previous Finals experience outlasted the three-time champs with their defensive tenacity and a substantial fourth-quarter performance from Jaylen Brown (24 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Al Horford (26 points and six rebounds).

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Al Horford was in his BAG in his #NBAFinals debut 🔥 pic.twitter.com/v9kMeeuRY8

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 3, 2022

Brown and Horford combined to score 20 points in the fourth; Brown started the festivities off, leading Boston to a 12-2 run, cutting the Warriors’ lead to 94-92 after he knocked down a three-pointer with 8:22 left in the game. Horford then took over just a few moments later, hitting back-to-back triples to give Boston a lead they would never surrender.

“JB is special,” Derrick White (21 points in 32 minutes) said. “Some of the shots he makes, the moves he makes, it’s just hard to guard, and it’s fun to watch. I’m glad I’m on his team. He’s one of the best players in the League for a reason, and he’s always making plays for us.

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Al hitting some big shots right now. You love to see it.

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 3, 2022

Horford’s game-altering buckets were a part of a game-sealing 17-0 Boston run. The Celtics held the Warriors to zero field goals for nearly five minutes, holding Stephen Curry (35 points, five rebounds, five assists) to just four points in the final frame. Boston ultimately outscored the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth, assisting on 12 of their 15 field goals.

“The group that started the fourth quarter, I think, did a great job setting the tone,” Horford said. “Jaylen attacking, Rob got a lob dunk, and that just kinda got us going, and from that point on, we felt like we’re gonna stay solid continue to fight, and that’s what we did.”

Game 2 between the Warriors and the Celtics will be back in Chase Center on Sunday, with the Warriors looking to tie the Finals up at 1-1 before the series shifts to Boston.

The 75th season of the NBA is nearing its end, with the NBA Finals starting on Thursday. The Warriors, for the first time since their tough 2019 loss to the Warriors. Their 2022 Finals appearance will be their sixth trip to the Finals since 2015. This is the Boston Celtics’ first title series appearance since 2010 when they lost to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Boston enters the Finals after beating the Nets, Bucks, and Heat, who each beat the Celtics during the last three postseasons. The Celtics were able to make this run despite a slow start to the season. Boston went .500 over the first 50 games of the season but won after 26 of their last 32 games, finishing the season with the best defensive rating in the League.

The Warriors beat the Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Mavericks during their run to the Finals. They finished the regular-season with a 53-29 record, good for third in the West. They’ve had a season of triumph with Stephen Curry breaking the all-time record for made three-pointers and creating the 3k club and the happy return of Klay Thompson following 942 days away from the hardwood.

They also had to deal with injuries to Curry and Green that almost knocked them off the top of the West, but the emergence of Jordan Poole and some timely big games from Thompson helped them stave off any trouble.

The regular-season series between the Warriors and Celtics ended in a 1-1 tie, with both teams winning their home games; Boston won the last matchup 110-88, but the Warriors were missing Andrew Wiggins, and Curry suffered a foot sprain that night that sidelined him until Game 1 of the first-round after colliding with Marcus Smart as the two fought for a loose ball.

Can Golden State Solve Boston’s Defense?

Boston has the top-ranked defense remaining in the Finals and is designed to stop the chaotic motion offense of the Warriors. The Celtics’ ability to wear teams out physically and their switchablity is why they became the best defense in the League.

On the other side, the Dubs are the top-ranked offense in the playoffs, scoring 116.1 points per game—up to four points from what they scored during the regular season. The main question will be, can Golden State rely on their typical offensive actions going against a defense that’s been excellent at stopping superstar scorers like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Golden State will have to exploit Boston’s mistakes whenever they can, shooting if Boston plays drop-in pick-and-roll, taking advantage whenever Boston blitzes off those same actions, or making the most of cross-matches whenever they present themselves.

Can Brown and Tatum Limit Their Turnovers and Tatum Exploiting Mismatches

Boston struggled when Tatum and Brown were flimsy with the ball this postseason. The All-Star duo committed 54 turnovers in their six losses, turning the ball over a combined 5.9 turnovers per game. A team like Golden State will take advantage of those mistakes.

On the other end, Boston will continue to thrive on Tatum hunting mismatches against the Warriors, mainly when Curry or Poole are switched on him whether it’s shooting over defenders or whipping the ball around so that Boston can attack Golden State when Boston has a 4-on-3 advantage.

Coach Steve Kerr’s solution may be to mix different coverages against Tatum, likely doubling, switching, and mixing in some zone looks like the Warriors used against Luka Doncic. The question will then be if Derrick White, Smart, and Brown can knock down the shots Tatum creates for them.

X-FACTOR

Golden State’s biggest x-factor will have to be the two-way play of Andrew Wiggins. As a member of the Warriors, Wiggins has emerged as an All-Star after thriving as a third option scorer. His shot creation, defensive versatility, and offensive rebound make him one of Golden State’s most indispensable players. Wiggins will have to take on Tatum on one end and then make the most of his opportunities against a physical defense that thrives at reducing ball movement and forcing some iso play.

Robert Williams occupies the other x-factor spot. The Time Lord’s shot-blocking at the rim and perimeter has been invaluable when healthy. Against the Warriors, Williams will have to stay engaged against the screening, cutting, and direct handoff actions from players like Green, Looney, and Payton. On the offensive end, Williams is a primetime lob threat.

With the NBA Finals beginning tonight, illustrious sneaker designer and artist Tinker Hatfield has teamed up with Michelob ULTRA to reveal yet another beautiful design from his one-of-a-kind mind.

“Well, I did last year’s bottle, which was kind of like a net draped over the actual net,” Hatfield tells SLAM over a Zoom interview. “The hoop was draped over the bottle. And I thought, well, it was just a quick read from a distance that you could, ‘Oh, that bottle’s got a net on it and oh yeah, the net of course, the cut-down the net. So only the winners get to do that. And so I’m like, well, that one worked out okay. That worked out well because it was very recognizable. And then I was just thinking as they asked me to do the same thing, that another talked about, lusted after, often photographed part of winning a championship is the actual ring that they get made. You know, Michael Jordan has six and there’s a beautiful poster of him with all his rings on his fingers. And I just think that just was a spectacular kind of photoshoot. But really, the rings are really in and of themselves kind of interesting. And obviously they don’t come along very often. So I thought, well, let’s basically print up a ring around the bottle and have the first one be the net bottle, and the second one is now the ring bottle. And [you] only get a ring when you win. I had to design a ring.”

This year’s Finals are coinciding with the NBA’s 75th anniversary season, which is prompting Tinker and Michelob to drop 75 limited-edition Championship Bottles in the winning team’s city. Those 75 winners will also get an NFT cooked up by Tinker.

The legend laughs and tells us that while it was an interesting challenge to design a ring, he’s not planning on giving up his day job at any point.

“I kind of hope that no one calls me up to design their ring for them,” Hatfield laughs. “I have enough stuff to do.”

We’ve ranked the best 75 individual season teams ever, which is featured in our SLAM’s TOP 75 NBA Teams of All Time special issue. This week, we’re unveiling which squads made it on our top 10. To find out who else made it on the list, read here.

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3. 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers

Coach: Bill Sharman

Record: 69-13

Roster: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Cleamons, Leroy Ellis,  Keith Erickson, Gail Goodrich, Happy Hairston, Jim McMillian, Pat Riley, Flynn Robinson, John Trapp, Jerry West

It had been an ugly decade for the Lakers, after they left Minneapolis and settled in L.A. From 1949-54, the franchise won five titles. It played for another championship in 1959. But the ‘60s? Six trips to the Finals. Six losses—all to the Celtics. Legendary guard Jerry West was beginning to wonder whether he would ever get to feel like a winner.

The situation was particularly painful in 1969, when L.A. hosted the Celtics in the seventh game of the Finals at the Fabulous Forum. Owner Jack Kent Cooke was so convinced his team would finally win that he had dozens of purple-and-gold balloons trapped behind netting in the arena’s rafters, ready to flutter to the floor when the Lakers clinched the championship. But instead of a celebration, there was another disappointment, as the Boston dynasty came to a close with its 11th crown in 13 seasons.

Things weren’t any better the next season. Los Angeles dropped another deciding game in the Finals, this time to the Knicks, who fed off Willis Reed’s heroics and Clyde Frazier’s excellence. When the Lakers dropped a Western Finals decision to Milwaukee in 1971, it was time for a change. Cooke directed GM Fred Schaus to sign Bill Sharman as coach. Thus began L.A.’s transformation from sad-sack also-ran to NBA champion.

Sharman re-cast the Laker approach, convincing center Wilt Chamberlain to focus more on rebounding and defense and less on scoring. The Lakers had guards Gail Goodrich and West, both of whom scored more than 25 a game, for that. Power forward Happy Hairston hit the boards with a ferocity, and wing man Jim McMillian hit a ton of corner jumpers and got out on the break with a fury. In fact, the whole team ran with abandon. The Lakers averaged 121.0 ppg.

Sharman also instituted the shootaround concept in 1971, primarily to make sure Chamberlain got out of bed early enough in the day so that he was ready to play that night. It worked. Not only did The Dipper play in all 82 games, he helped the Lakers to an NBA-record 69 victories. Included was a 33-game winning streak—the longest in history for any major US sport—during which the Lakers beat their opponents by an average of 16.7 ppg.

L.A. breezed to the Pacific Division title and swept away Chicago in the opening round of the playoffs. Waiting in the Western Finals were the defending champion Bucks, who had won 63 games and boasted the terrific tandem of center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and guard Oscar Robertson. After Milwaukee whipped the Lakers, 93-72, in the first game—in Los Angeles—some doubt crept into the collective Laker psyche.

The Lakers won a wild Game 2, 135-134, to even the series and went on to overcome the Bucks in six. One of their nemeses had been vanquished. Another—New York—was waiting. The Knicks had routed Boston in the Eastern Finals in five games and were hoping to relive their 1970 title success at the expense of L.A. When the Knicks won the first game, in Los Angeles, by 22, many were shocked. The Lakers were motivated.

That would be it for the Knicks’ success. The Lakers evened the series with a triumph in the second game, and Chamberlain had 26 points (on 9-10 shooting) and 20 boards to key a 107-96 victory in the third. The Lakers won the series in five games, capping a tremendous season and bringing vindication to the franchise. Chamberlain was the Finals MVP, and West could finally feel like a winner.

Boy, did it feel good.

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Photos via Getty Images.

Andre Iguodala hasn’t played since Game 4 of the Warriors’ first-round series against the Denver Nuggets due to a neck injury. The injury has sidelined Iguodala for 13 of their last 16 playoff games, including 12 straight, while he recovers. As of Wednesday, Iggy has been ruled questionable for Game 1 of the FInals along with Gary Payton II.

But Iggy’s injury woes haven’t prevented him from playing a vital role for the Warriors as a player-assistant coach while in street clothes. This is mainly done by mentoring Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody all season and keeping this deep playoff run in perspective. According to Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News, Iguodala has made sure to remind the rookies to take plenty of pictures and keep memorabilia.

“Historically, they aren’t supposed to take on everything that comes with being in the Finals,” Iguodala said. “They’re supposed to be on college campuses learning about themselves, learning who they are as people, learning what they like, learning what they don’t like, instead of these guys making five-plus million dollars a year, got all the pressures, the madness of having money and being in the spotlight. You can become jaded. You can start taking these things for granted.

“It’s not their fault. I’m guilty of it, just being in the Finals so many times where I feel nothing. I just know it’s my job to go out and win. Really no joy in it; it’s just going to work.

Iggy has also maintained his brutal honesty with playoff vets like Kevon Looney and players playing in the playoffs for the first time like Jordan Poole. The third-year guard said Iggy “doesn’t leave any rock unturned,” and as a three-time champ, he coaches “how he sees the game unfold.”

“Extremely meticulous,” Poole said. “He likes to point out the details and small things. He has a lot of knowledge, and he’s willing to share, which is really cool to be a part of — He’s also extremely real. He’ll keep it a rack; he won’t sugarcoat anything. Being able to have him in our corner as a vet is huge.”

Iguodala’s knowledge as an 18-year vet and a player who played a significant role in the Warriors’ title runs as a versatile defender in Golden State’s small-ball lineups has earned him the ear of the younger Warriors.

His institutional knowledge of Golden State’s playstyle and culture has helped him stay in the League just as much as his quick hands, length, and athleticism. At 38-years-old, Iggy isn’t a part of the Warriors’ long-term plan, but for the time he’s relied on to be a strong voice on the bench.

He’s been given even more leeway as a veteran and player-coach because the Warriors championship core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson trust him to help Poole, Kuminga, and Moody see what they see on the floor. Having him in their collective ear will only make playing on the biggest stage of basketball even more when it matters the most.

“He has access, not just physical access but emotional access that the coaching staff does not have,” Coach Steve Kerr said. “Frankly, there’s a trust factor that exists that can’t possibly exist between players and coaches. That’s why the role is so important. He has a different vantage point, and the guys believe in him so much, and he’s just brilliant at demanding and embracing and everything in between.”

Iggy awaits clearance for Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

With the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Celtics tipping off tonight, the current average secondary market list price is $3,241, making the 2022 NBA Finals the second most expensive Finals series TicketIQ has ever tracked. The only series that was more expensive was the 2019 series between the Warriors and Raptors, which had an average price of $3,899. Last year’s Bucks vs Suns series is 3rd on our list, and the 2016 and 2017 Warriors vs Cavs matchups take the 4th and 5th spots. Only the 2019 and 2022 Finals had overall average prices north of $3,000. 

The Warriors home average for the series is $3,526, which is the highest of any of their six trips to the Finals since 2015, and the second-highest we’ve ever tracked. The Boston Celtics home average for the series is $2,860, the second most expensive for any Eastern Conference team that we’ve tracked, and the 5th highest overall.

When it comes to the least expensive tickets for these NBA Finals, prices in Golden State range from $740 for game one to $1,479 for a possible game 7, while prices in Boston range from $866 for game 3 to $1,190 for a possible game 6. Below is a look at the get-in prices for each game of the series:

On the high end of the spectrum, ticket prices in Golden State go as high as $80,000+ for a courtside seat to game 7, and $65,000+ in Boston for a courtside seat in game 3. Below is a look at the most expensive tickets for each game of the series:

If you’re in the market for 2022 NBA Finals tickets, TicketIQ offers Fee Free tickets for all events, as well as a Refund Guarantee. Their Refund Guarantee states that if an event is canceled or deemed unfit for fans to attend, TicketIQ will refund ticket buyers in within 15 days. That means that you can buy from TicketIQ worry-free. Customers on TicketIQ save between 15%-25% compared to other secondary market ticketing sites.

They’re also offering Slam readers a special promo code for $75 off any NBA Finals purchase. Just use promo code SLAM75 at checkout.

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Photo via Getty Image.

We’ve ranked the best 75 individual season teams ever, which is featured in our SLAM’s TOP 75 NBA Teams of All Time special issue. This week, we’re unveiling which squads made it on our top 10. To find out who else made it on the list, read here.

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4. 1985-86 Boston Celtics

Coach: KC Jones

Record: 67-15

Roster: Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Jerry Sichting, David Thirdkill, Sam Vincent, Bill Walton, Scott Wedman, Sly Williams

From the 1983-84 season all the way through ’87-88, Larry Bird averaged 27.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Three of those seasons ended with Bird winning League MVP honors. Two of them ended with championships. For a few years in the middle of arguably the NBA’s greatest decade, Bird was the best player alive.

Whether the ’85-86 Celtics are the greatest of the franchise’s 17 NBA title teams is up for debate; there are, after all, a lot of great ones to choose from. Let’s just agree that this squad is on the short list. It starts, of course, with Bird, the 6-9 assassin who did everything there was to do on a basketball court very, very well. In his third and final League MVP season, Bird averaged 25.8 points, 9.8 boards, 6.8 assists and 2 steals per.

Equally as consistent and nearly as productive was Kevin McHale, the low-post menace who accounted for 21.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Alongside veteran center Robert Parish (16.1 ppg and 9.5 rpg) and reserve big man Bill Walton, the future Hall of Famer getting his last chance at glory after an injury-riddled career, they formed the most imposing frontcourt in the League.

Though less acclaimed, the backcourt of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge could kill you with scoring, defense and—especially in Ainge’s case—sheer distraction. These two knew their roles and played them to perfection. The group was coached by KC Jones, an eight-time champ during his own Celtic playing days who caught an unfair rep as a roll-the-balls out spectator on the bench, but who knew exactly how to motivate his tough and talented squad.

Make that tough, talented and motivated as hell going into the ’85-86 season. The previous summer, they’d lost 4-2 to L.A. in the Finals, Boston’s first ever Finals loss to the franchise they’d dominated throughout their history. They weren’t about to let the Showtime squad do it back-to-back.

The Celtics set the tone early that season. After an OT loss to the Nets on opening night, Boston roared to a 17-2 start. They put together a 13-game win streak in mid-winter, and topped that with a 14-game unbeaten run in March and April. Their League-best 67-15 record included a pair of head-to-head victories over the team everyone assumed they’d once again meet in the Finals: a 15-point home blowout in January, and a 6-point win at the Fabulous Forum a month later.

They hit the playoffs in stride and never let up: a 3-0 sweep of the Bulls, a 4-1 series win over the Hawks and a clean sweep of a 57-win Milwaukee squad in the Eastern Conference Finals. And then it was time for the Finals matchup they’d waited all year for. And waiting for them was… Houston?

Indeed, Houston. The Rockets rode the Twin Towers pairing of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson to a 4-1 WCF upset of L.A., earning a well-deserved spot in the Finals but spoiling the widely expected L.A.-Boston rematch. Houston might have ruined the narrative, but if the Celtics were disappointed, it certainly didn’t show in their play.

The Rockets showed up, and led by 23-year-old future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon (24.7 ppg, 11.8 rpg and 3.2 bpg for the series), they kept things competitive. But this series was only ever going to end one way. Boston took a 2-0 lead at home with a pair of comfortable wins at the Garden, then stole the middle of three games in Houston to ensure they returned home in control. In Game 6, they smothered the Rockets from the jump, rolling to a 55-38 halftime lead
and never let up, posting a 114-97 victory to clinch the title. McHale scored 25.8 points per game, but it was Bird, with a staggering stat line of 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game, who rightfully claimed his second Finals MVP trophy.

Lakers or no Lakers, this was Bird’s—and Boston’s—year.

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Photos via Getty Images

Los Angeles painter Keezerfeld has just released “The Ghost of the ’90s,” a 1-of-1 NFT that is an abstract interpretation of the Chicago Bulls’ six NBA championships.

The NFT is calibrated off the original acrylic on canvas, which was made using industrial rakes, brooms and tools—not paintbrushes. Keezerfeld, who describes himself as a “Thrash Expressionist Artist,” has sold over 100 NFTs to collectors on five continents and is one of the first artists to be selling Solana-based NFTs. The sale of “The Ghost of the ’90s” NFT will also include the original physical piece.

“The cross section of sports and art has always fascinated me, I’m excited about the convergence of so many worlds with the release of this physical work via the 1/1 calibrated NFT,” Keezerfeld told SLAM.

The piece captures the legendary Michael Jordan-led Bulls in which Chicago won six championships in an eight-season span. Such a feat hasn’t been achieved since, as players like Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman have gone down as basketball icons. The Bulls championship squads of the ’90s are also featured in our SLAM Presents TOP 75 NBA Teams of All Time special issue.

An anonymous artist, Keezerfeld found success with “The Quarantine Chronicles,” (TQC), a series of nine abstract paintings containing commentary on mental health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The collection was featured in Elevator Magazine in April 2021. He says his most recent work features commentary on “the looming ghost of history that has existed for the team,” as the Bulls have not won a championship since Jordan left in January of 1999. In addition to his most recent work, Keezerfeld has over 100 pieces of artwork available for purchase on the secondary market via exchange art.

“The Ghost of the ’90s” is on sale now in celebration of the start of the NBA Finals. It can be purchased here.