Who’s In The NBA Finals?

The 2020 NBA Finals will feature the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. Who do you think will win?

Eastern Conference

In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the NBA. They are followed by the Toronto Raptors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics. The Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat are also in the playoff mix.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins. Since 1951, the Celtics have been one of the most successful teams in NBA history, winning a record seventeen NBA championships, which includes eight straight wins from 1959 to 1966; this is by far the most in NBA history.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The team began play as an expansion team in 1970, along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves. Home games were first held at Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974, followed by the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994. Since 1994, the Cavs have played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, which is shared with the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). Dan Gilbert has owned the team since March 2005.

The Cavaliers opened their inaugural season losing their first 15 games and struggled in their early years, placing last in the Eastern Conference during their first five seasons. The team won their first Central Division title in 1976, which also marked the first winning season and playoff appearance in franchise history, where they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The franchise was purchased by Ted Stepien in 1980. Stepien’s tenure as owner was marked by six straight postseason losses from 1981 to 1986, sensationalism by promoting American Funds and conflict with LeBron James’s agent, Dan Fegan.

The Cavs continued to struggle throughout most of Stepien’s ownership; making a brief playoff appearance as an eighth seed during 1989–90 under head coach Lenny Wilkens’ final season before being swept out of the first round by eventual Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons while finishing with a 42–40 record—one game ahead of Indiana Pacers for that final playoff berth—under Wilkens’ replacement Jim Lynam during 1990–91. Stepien sold majority ownership of both teams to Gilbert in March 2005 amid increasing criticisms over mismanagement under his stewardship; with Stepien retaining a minority stake until his death on October 8, 2013 at age 82.[16][17] Positive developments began following Gilbert’s purchase of majority interest; hiring new general manager David Griffin on May 15, 2014 after parting ways with long-time general manager Chris Grant who was hired days earlier by then-Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for that position.[18] Griffin then led Zeke Upshaw and Grand Rapids Drive to win 2017 Summer League championship.[19]

Western Conference

The Golden State Warriors are in the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year. They’ll be playing the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are in the Finals for the fourth time in the last five years. This will be the rubber match between these two teams, as they’ve split the last two NBA Finals.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. The team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the rockets won 51 games and were second in a brutal Western Conference, losing to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the conference finals.

Led by hakeem olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich, the rockets achieved their first ever NBA championship by defeating the New York Knicks 4–2 in 1994 finals. In 1995, after winning back-to-back championships, Olajuwon retired from active play following knee surgery, allowing Drexler to lead them to their third title in 1999 against the Knicks again.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have been to the NBA Finals five times in franchise history, winning three championships (1956, 1975, 2015). The Warriors were founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). They were based in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962 and then San Francisco from 1962 to 1971. In 1972, the team relocated to Oakland, California and changed their name to the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors have won two NBA Finals since relocating to Oakland: first in 1975 against the Washington Bullets, and again in 2015 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team’s current head coach is Steve Kerr, and their owner is Joe Lacob.