By BRIAN MAHONEY and TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writers
(AP) — There was Toronto in 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, and Boston in 2024.
Six different seasons, six different champions. A run of parity like none other in NBA history.
And now the Celtics get their turn at bucking that trend. Boston will try to win back-to-back NBA titles, something no franchise has managed since Golden State did it in 2017 and 2018. The NBA playoffs start Saturday with four Game 1s, continue Sunday with four more Game 1s, and just like that a 16-team, two-month journey will be off and running.
Favored to win the title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, are the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder, the top overall seed and No. 1 seed in the Western Conference — a team that set an NBA record this season by outscoring teams by 12.9 points per game. Their fellow No. 1 seed out of the Eastern Conference: the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers, a group that put together the second-best regular season in franchise history.
The Thunder haven’t been to the NBA Finals since 2012. The Cavaliers haven’t been there since the end of LeBron James’ second era in Cleveland in 2018. Over the last six seasons, nine different franchises have made at least one finals appearance — further speaking to the parity leaguewide right now, and the Thunder and Cavs both have eyes on adding to that list.
“This is what you compete for, is to be able to compete on the biggest stages,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’re now entering that. We’ve earned the opportunity to be there just like everybody else. We’re certainly excited.”
The Thunder are the favorite. The Cavs — who will face a 37-45 Heat team in Round 1 — and Celtics both won 60-plus games. The Lakers, Warriors, and Nuggets certainly have reasons for confidence. The Timberwolves were the surprise team that made a deep run last year. The Pacers might be that team this year.
Oklahoma City had the best record in the NBA this season and its reward is a Round 1 matchup against a 48-win Memphis team that has a dynamic guard in Ja Morant and nothing to lose after firing coach Taylor Jenkins late in the season and needing to survive the play-in just to grab the No. 8 spot.
Yes, the Thunder did sweep the Grizzlies this season (by an average of 18.8 points) and have won nine consecutive head-to-head meetings. That doesn’t mean this series will be easy, even for a team led by MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The key matchup is not an individual one. It’s the Grizzlies against OKC’s total defense.
Memphis shot only 41% and averaged 106.3 points against the Thunder in the four regular-season meetings. Their numbers against all other teams were better in both categories.
Put simply, the Grizzlies have to find a way to do more to have a chance in this series.
