Who’s Leading in the NBA Finals?
Contents
We’re nearing the end of the NBA Finals and the question on everyone’s mind is: who’s leading?
The answer, of course, depends on who you ask. If you’re a fan of the Golden State Warriors, then you’re probably feeling pretty good about their 3-1 lead. But if you’re a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, you’re probably feeling a little nervous, given their 1-3 deficit.
No matter who you’re rooting for, though, it
The Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently leading the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. They are up 3-1 in the best of seven series. The Lakers are looking to win their first NBA Finals since 2010. Kobe Bryant is the leading scorer for the Lakers, averaging 26.8 points per game.
Their History
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). The new team began playing in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers in honor of Minnesota’s nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”.
Their Record
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. They are members of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the defending NBA champions. The Lakers hold the record for having won the most NBA championships with 17, as well as the second-most Finals appearances with 31.
The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). The new team began calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers. A member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of their next six championships. Led by center George Mikan, who is described as the league’s first superstar, they won their sixth championship in 1954. They then defeated the Syracuse Nationals to win their seventh title in 1955. Despite losing in 1959 finals against Boston, they returned to win eight more championships between 1960 and 1988.
In 2000, Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Lakers; he teamed with Kobe Bryant to create one of basketball’s most iconic duos while leading them to three consecutive titles between 2000 and 2002. After missing virtually all of 2003–04 due to injuries, O’Neal was traded to Miami; he subsequently won a fourth title with Dwyane Wade in 2006 before retiring from basketball two years later. Wade was then signed by Cleveland in 2016, but injuries limited him to just 51 games over two seasons before he too ultimately retired from basketball in 2019. In his final season with Cleveland, LeBron James led them to their first Finals appearance since 2007; he then signed with Los Angeles that offseason and led them back to the Finals in 2020 against his former team Miami Heat which they lost 4-2 resulting in him not winning a title with LA that year despite being named Finals MVP again.
Their Players
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference in the Pacific Division. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center, an arena shared with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (NBL). The new team began playing in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers. Initially a member of the NBL, the Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association of America, where they would win five of their next six championships.
The Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are currently leading the NBA Finals with two wins under their belt. They are playing against the Los Angeles Lakers, who they defeated in the first two games of the series. The Heat are looking strong and are favored to win the series.
Their History
The Miami Heat are a professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. They play their home games at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami. The team owner is Micky Arison, while Pat Riley serves as the team president and head coach.
Formed in 1988 as an expansion team, the Heat have won three NBA championships (in 2006, 2012 and 2013), five Eastern Conference titles (in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2014) and 11 division titles (in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013). From February 3 to March 27, 2013, the Heat won 27 games in a row (an NBA record that stood until the Golden State Warriors won 28 straight games during the 2014–15 season), the third-longest streak in NBA history.
Three Hall of Famers have played for Miami: center Alonzo Mourning power forward Chris Bosh shooting guard Dwyane Wade. Following Bosh’s departure to sign with the Houston Rockets in free agency in July 2016 after failing to agree on a contract extension with the team,[8] Wade was traded back to his original team, the Chicago Bulls. Wade’s agent Henry Thomas stated that re-signing with Miami was not an option for his client due to how they handled his departure.[9] In September 2016 yet another former player Chris Andersen signed with Cleveland Cavaliers after being waived by Atlanta Hawks earlier that month.[10]
On October 18, 2016, it was announced that head coach Erik Spoelstra agreed to a contract extension with the Heat.[11][12]
Their Record
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida. The Heat competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. They play their home games at the American Airlines Arena. The team owner is Micky Arison, while Pat Riley serves as the team president and head coach.
The Heat are three-time NBA champions (2012, 2013, and 2014), holding the NBA records for the second most consecutive Finals appearances (six, from 2010 to 2020), tied with the Los Angeles Lakers; and for reaching the Finals in five straight seasons twice (from 2011 to 2020). Four Hall of Famers have played for Miami, while Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade have led the team to its best seasons. Alongside Udonis Haslem, they are the only players to have played all 16 seasons with Miami since the franchise’s inaugural season in 1988–89.
In July 2010, LeBron James announced he would be joining forces with Bosh and Wade to form a “Big Three”. The newly dubbed trio helped lead Miami to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances. In 2012, they won their first NBA championship together defeating Oklahoma City Thunder in five games during James’ first season with the Heat. After losing in 2013 to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games during their second year together, they returned to win a back-to-back championship in 2014 defeating Tim Duncan’s Spurs ones again but this time in five games. They qualified for a fourth consecutive appearance in 2015 behind another strong season by Wade but were ultimately swept by Kobe Bryant’s eventual retirement tour Lakers despite having home court advantage.
The following 2016 off-season saw two key departures: Bosh was sidelined due to blood clots and Wade signed with his hometown Chicago Bulls after 13 seasons with Miami. With them gone Lebron James took primary scoring responsibility leading his team back to another NBA Finals appearance where they lost a close series 4–3 against Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors despite being up 3–1 at one point. After that loss Lebron publicly stated he was not interested in regular season accolades anymore and shifted his focus on 14th NBA Finals appearance which he accomplished by leading miami on an epic 27–0 run which many consider one of greatest achievements ever done by single player throughout whole NBA playoffs history becoming only player ever with two such streaks 26+ wins which previous one he did back when he was still playing for Cleveland Cavaliers becoming also first player ever to appear 7 times consecutively into NBA finals joining greats like Bill Russell or Magic Johnson(both achieved it 6 times).
Their Players
The Miami Heat is an American professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida. The Heat competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at American Airlines Arena, and has won three NBA championships.
Their players are:
-Jimmy Butler
-Bam Adebayo
-Goran Dragic
-Duncan Robinson
-Tyler Herro
-Kelly Olynyk
The Matchup
The Golden State Warriors are set to take on the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals. This will be the first time the Raptors have made it to the Finals, while the Warriors are making their fifth consecutive appearance. Both teams have had strong seasons and it should be a great series. Who will come out on top?
What to Expect
Now that the 2019 NBA Finals are upon us, it’s time to take a look at what we can expect from this year’s matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. While the Warriors are no strangers to the NBA Finals, having made it to the last four consecutive years, this will be the Raptors’ first ever appearance in the championship series. So which team has the upper hand?
It’s tough to say. The Warriors have certainly had their share of success in recent years, but they’ve also been dealt some tough luck in these playoffs, losing All-Star Kevin Durant to an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. The Raptors, on the other hand, are coming into the Finals fresh off a series victory over one of the best teams in basketball, the Milwaukee Bucks.
So who knows? This year’s NBA Finals could really go either way. But one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be an exciting series.
Who Will Win?
It’s that time of year again! The NBA Finals are upon us and the question on everyone’s mind is: who will win? The Cleveland Cavaliers are back for their fourth consecutive appearance, looking to take home their third championship in that time. Standing in their way are the Golden State Warriors, who are making their fourth appearance in the past five years.
The Warriors are coming into the series as the favorites, having won 58 games in the regular season compared to the Cavaliers’ 50. They also have home court advantage, which could prove to be critical as the series goes on. But the Cavaliers have LeBron James, who is widely considered to be the best basketball player in the world and is always a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
Both teams have had their share of injuries throughout the season, but they appear to be healthy and ready to go for the Finals. It should be a great series and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top!