2022 NBA Championship

Lore & Background

The Warriors were the no. 3 seed in the West, while the Celtics were the no. 2 in the East. Despite this, the Warriors had home-court advantage for finishing the regular season 2 games better than the Celtics. 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. The NBA Finals returned to its normal June schedule for the first time since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began. 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.

In Their Own Story

Inside Chase Center, the air hung heavy with eight years of tension and anticipation. When the final buzzer pierced Game 6, the roar didn't just echo; it physically shook the rafters, a visceral release of emotion that swept through the arena. Confetti fell like snow on Stephen Curry's shoulders as he stood at center court, his gaze locking across the sea of blue and yellow with Draymond Green. In that shared look lay the weight of a decade finally lifted. The trophy gleamed under the lights, no longer just gold, but undeniable proof that the foundation hadn't crumbled—it had been waiting for this exact moment to rise again.

Reader's Guide

This was the second Finals meeting between the Celtics and the Warriors, after 1964, where the Celtics defeated the Warriors (then the San Francisco Warriors) in five games to win their sixth consecutive title. In the playoffs, from the first round until the conference finals, home-court advantage was given to a team with the higher seed. However, in the NBA Finals, this is given to the team with a better regular-season record, regardless of the seedings. The Warriors were the no. 3 seed in the West, while the Celtics were no. 2 in the East. The Warriors and the Celtics finished the regular season 53–29 and 51–31, respectively, giving the Warriors home-court advantage over the Celtics. This was the 11th time that a lower-seeded team had home-court advantage, the last time being 2019. It was also the second straight finals without a no. 1 seed from either conference (after 2021), and the 15th time overall.

Did You Know?

• Stephen Curry was named Finals MVP for the first time in his career.
• The Warriors won their fourth championship in eight years and seventh overall.
• The Celtics remained tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most titles in league history with 17 championships.
• The series was a rematch of the 1964 NBA Finals, in which the Celtics defeated the then-San Francisco Warriors in five games.