The NBA Finals Everyone Wants To See Is Finally Here

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This hasn’t always been the NBA playoffs we’d wanted or expected. The San Antonio Spurs lost in the first round. Kevin Love suffered a season-ending injury. 

John Wall broke his wrist. The Los Angeles Clippers blew a trip to the conference finals, while the Atlanta Hawks reached the conference finals but didn’t bother showing up.

Playoffs seldom go to plan, so it’s naive to think 2015 would be much different than seasons past. But these playoffs have been relatively underwhelming throughout long stretches. Sure, there have been thrilling finishes, but the games themselves have seldom required your attention or investment.

That’s all about to change.

The Golden State Warriors brushed off the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night to set up the NBA Finals we deserve. Yes, we deserve this. We’ve waited 82 regular season games and a mundane playoffs for this type of drama and it’s about damn time.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, equipped with the best player in basketball, have willed themselves to this point. Overcoming injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers hardly broke a sweat to reach this point. The Atlanta Hawks, who had been the Eastern Conference’s best team all year and a shell of themselves in the playoffs, never even stood a chance against LeBron James in the conference finals. The Cavaliers had to win four games, but it was a series that felt over before it even started.

But when it did start, James took over, and put on a show that only he could. He all but singlehandedly buried the Hawks in the first three games of the series, before taking a victory lap in Game 4. In a light and limping Eastern Conference, LeBron dominated as he has for the past five years. Now he’ll face his hardest challenge of the playoffs in the Warriors.

Golden State has dealt with the pressure of being the best team in the NBA since starting the season 21-2. Upon reaching the finals in his first year as head coach, Steve Kerr admitted he felt relief more than any other emotion. When you have the league MVP in Stephen Curry and 67 wins to your name, it’s apparently difficult to feel anything other than pressure – even if you just reached your first finals since 1975.

The stage, and expectations, are set. The league’s best player against the league’s best team. You couldn’t ask for anything more.