The Golden State Warriors are looking to claim their seventh NBA championship in history as the San Francisco-based team is set to take on the Eastern Conference winners Boston Celtics in the Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals on Thursday.
Then called the Philadelphia Warriors, the franchise won their first-ever championship in the 1947 Basketball Association of America (BAA) by defeating Chicago Stags 4-1 in the series.
The BAA was the previous name of the NBA when the national competition was founded on June 6, 1946.
After losing the next season’s final 4-2 against the Baltimore Bullets, the Warriors had to wait a full eight seasons before getting the chance to vie for the championship in the title match again.
After such a long wait, they did not squander the opportunity, clinching their second title by eliminating the Fort Wayne Pistons 4-1 in 1956.
The Warriors were relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 as the team was renamed the San Francisco Warriors.
They returned empty handed from their next two finals in 1964 and 1967, as they lost 4-1 to the Boston Celtics and 4-2 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 1971, the Western Conference franchise adopted its current name.
After their third NBA championship came with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Bullets in 1975, the Golden State would have to wait a grueling four decades for another NBA trophy.
Warriors end 40-year NBA title drought in 2015
In the 2014-15 NBA season, US playmaker guard Stephen Curry-led Warriors repeated their success in 1975.
In 2015, the team’s aptly named ‘Golden Age’ began with head coach Steve Kerr as the Warriors bagged three titles in four years (2015, 2017 and 2018) — all against the Cleveland Cavaliers — only losing the 2016 championship to the Cavaliers by 4-3.
The Warriors reached the NBA finals for the fifth time in a row in 2019, but failed to take down the Toronto Raptors, losing the series 4-2.
It was the first and only NBA title of the Canadian-based Raptors.
Golden State’s road to 2022 NBA Finals
After failing to appear in the 2020 and 2021 finals, the Golden State came back to the NBA Finals phase in 2022.
The Warriors have finished the Western Conference regular season in third place with 53 wins and 29 losses, with eight-time NBA All-Star guard Curry leading them with an average 25.5 points per game in the regular season.
In the Western Conference first round, the Warriors eliminated the Denver Nuggets – led by 2022 MVP Nikola Jokic – by 4-1 to proceed to the West semifinals.
Then came the Memphis Grizzlies in the conference semis. Despite Memphis star Ja Morant’s 38.3 point per-game average against the Warriors, the Golden State knocked them out 4-2.
The Warriors won the Western Conference finals’ battle, also 4-1, against the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks to make their way to this season’s NBA finals for a clash with the Celtics.
The 2022 NBA final series is taking off with Game 1 at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Thursday.
The Finals are played in a best-of-seven format, meaning four wins will be enough to win the title.
Source: Anadolu Agency