After missing the NBA Finals in each of the last two seasons, the Golden State Warriors are headed back.
Any hopes that the Dallas Mavericks had about carrying the momentum of their Game 4 win to get the series back to Dallas for Game 6 were quickly dashed. The Warriors jumped out to a big halftime lead, thanks largely to the hot shooting of Klay Thompson. And while Dallas did narrow the gap in the second half, the outcome was never in doubt, as Golden State came away with a 120-110 win in Game 5 in a 4-1 series win.
game.
Dubs win the series 4-1 pic.twitter.com/RGJM7QQVe2
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 27, 2022
NBA fans quickly flooded Twitter with their praise of the new — yet also old — Western Conference Champions.
Warriors fans should pinch themselves that Klay Thompson can still be this elite after nearly three years away from live NBA action. The league doesn’t have a comeback player award, but he’d be granite unanimous.
— Carl Steward (@stewardsfolly) May 27, 2022
Warriors are now the first franchise to reach the NBA Finals 6 times in an 8-season span since the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen Bulls from 91-98. Unreal
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) May 27, 2022
Every young hooper and team should be required to watch the @warriors play as a team
— Marcus Spears (@mspears96) May 27, 2022
The fact that the Big 3 of the Warriors has went to the Finals 6 times in the last 8 seasons is beyond Impressive and a beautiful thing to witness!!! Real Talk.
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 27, 2022
The Warriors The 49ers
🤝
beating Dallas teams in the Playoffs— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 27, 2022
Steve Kerr coached one heck of a series. Warriors always had the Mavericks guessing with different defensive schemes.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 27, 2022
While this will be Golden State’s sixth trip to the finals in eight years, it will be against a different opponent. Four of the previous five trips came against the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the fifth was against the Toronto Raptors. The Warriors defeated Cleveland in 2015, 2017 and 2019, losing in 2016. Golden State lost to Toronto in 2019.
The Warriors and Boston Celtics do have some history with each other in the Finals, though not recently, with the previous meeting coming in 1964. Golden State and the Miami Heat have never met in the Finals.
Regardless of who wins the Eastern Conference Finals, the Warriors will have home-court advantage. The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 2 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
