By: Nina Cray
The NBA Conference finals are set to begin on Tuesday, May 17th – with the 1st seeded Miami Heat facing off against the 2nd seeded Boston Celtics in the East – and continuing Wednesday, May 18th with the 3rd seeded Golden State Warriors facing off against the 4th seeded Dallas Mavericks in the West.
In the East, Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat back to the conference finals for the 2nd time in three seasons, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 with a score of 99-90, closing the series 4-2.
They will face off against the Boston Celtics, who defeated the defending NBA champions – the Milwaukee Bucks – in a thrilling 109-81 Game 7 victory led offensively by Grant Williams with 27 points and 6 rebounds.
The Celtics were down in the series 3-2 after five games but won Game 6 and kept that momentum going in Game 7 to lock in their place in the NBA conference finals.
On Friday, May 13th in a tough 6-Game series against Memphis, the Golden State Warriors won 110-96, ending the series 4-2.
Golden State’s “Splash Brothers,” Klay Thompson and Steph Curry made history and combined for 14 made threes in the game – both surpassing Ray Allen’s 46 career Game 6 threes. Curry now has 51 career Game 6 threes and Thompson is right behind him with 50.
Golden State will be facing off against the Dallas Mavericks, who have reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2011.
In the against-the-odds thrilling matchup of Dallas vs. the Suns in Game 7, Slovenian star Luka Doncic had 27 at halftime and scored a total of 35 after being mocked by Devin Booker.
The Mavericks won 123-90, which is the largest victory margin by a road team in Game 7 in 75 years. Not to mention the Dallas comeback from an 0-2 series start.
Sources:
Linn, Joey. May 14th, 2022. FanNation. “Steph Curry and Klay Thompson Make History in Game 6 Victory.” <https://www.si.com/nba/warriors/news/steph-curry-and-klay-thompson-make-history-in-game-6-victory>
Kaskey-Blomain, Michael. May 15th, 2022. CBS NBA. “Bucks vs. Celtics score, takeaways: Boston ousts defending champs with Game 7 rout, heads to conference finals.” <https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/bucks-vs-celtics-score-takeaways-boston-ousts-defending-champs-with-game-7-rout-heads-to-conference-finals/live/>
Fisher, Mike & Amaranthus, Bri. May 15th, 2022. “Mavs Teach Suns a Lesson: Like Dirk Nowitzki Before Him, Luka Doncic Is Not To Be Mocked – Game 7 Blowout Live Scoring.” <https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/dallas-mavs-suns-game-7-live-scoring-updates-luka-doncic-blowout-final-recap-dirk-wcf#gid=ci02a146ebb0002661&pid=gettyimages-1397446711-594×594>
