The Golden Era | A Golden State Warriors Dynasty (NBA 2K20)

[trekfan]

Whew, Finals rematch! Can Durant and Butler actually do this thing? Or are the Warriors just too good, too deep, for any team to really catch them?


Not sure how big Green's injury is ... with the amount of talent the Warriors have, compensating for the lack of Green should be relatively easy. Then again, the last Finals games he missed had a dramatic effect on the series outcome.

[marshdaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Whew, Finals rematch! Can Durant and Butler actually do this thing? Or are the Warriors just too good, too deep, for any team to really catch them? Not sure how big Green's injury is ... with the amount of talent the Warriors have, compensating for the lack of Green should be relatively easy. Then again, the last Finals games he missed had a dramatic effect on the series outcome.

He was ruled out for Games 1 and 2 in Miami, but his role on the team is much different than the 2016 Finals. With Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Kuminga and Ibraham Mobley, we feel pretty good about the ability to fill the loss. Gordon is a fantastic defender on the inside and outside, not necessarily to the pedigree of Green but still a great filler.

The injury actually gives us a chance to be a lot better shooting on the perimeter at the four with Gordon and Kuminga. The stage might be too big but Mobley will have a shot to prove himself as a rookie.

[Thugger Jackson]

My Spurs got a nice set of guards with Cole Anthony, Dejounte and White.

[marshdaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thugger Jackson

My Spurs got a nice set of guards with Cole Anthony, Dejounte and White.

Spurs have stocked up on guards and wings to go around Mitchell Robinson and Sasha Kasparov. The future is definitely bright for the Spurs and, if they can catch a good matchup, should be able to make a run in the playoffs.

[marshdaddy]

2023 NBA Finals

For the 15th time in NBA history, the Finals will be a copy and paste from the year before. With the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors set to square off in the 2023 NBA Finals one year after the Warriors dispatched the Heat in five games, the two teams join a short list of NBA consistency.

The most recent Finals rematch came with the Warriors and Cavaliers, who met four straight times, but the Warriors and Heat join a list that includes the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, Celtics and St. Louis Hawks, Lakers and Knicks, Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.

The sequel, however, looks different than the first. This time around, the Heat are fresh off a 65-win season, the best in the NBA and own homecourt advantage, after having had to open the series in Golden State a year ago, in which they fell behind 2-0 and couldn’t dig themselves out.

The Warriors aging core also looks different. Stephen Curry has managed to stay healthy throughout the playoffs, but there’s the ever looming concern that right knee injuries that plagued his season could rear their ugly head again. The Warriors will also be without Draymond Green for at least the first two games in Miami, if not more, after he suffered a broken hand in the Western Conference Finals.

With Miami fully healthy and the Warriors hoping to get there, the Heat enter the Finals with confidence that part two will look much different than part one.

Let’s get to it.

Game 1
Golden State 129, Miami 128 (Golden State leads 1-0)
Same song, different chorus. The Warriors look unafraid of a trip on the road and steal Game 1 from the Heat. The winning jumper comes thanks to a Jonathan Kuminga jumper with 18.2 seconds to flip homecourt to the Warriors early on.

Kuminga ended the night with 20 points, three rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, while Curry led the way with 30 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Klay Thompson had 26 and Anthony Edwards had 22.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 39 points and dished out eight assists while Tyler Herro had 22 points. Butler finished with 14 points and Bam Adebayo had 10, seven and seven.

Game 2
Golden State 118, Miami 116 (Golden State leads 2-0)
Game 1 didn’t get all the dramatics. With the game tied with less than 10 seconds to play, Curry attacked the rim off a backdoor cut, freeing himself for a wide-open layup with 8.9 seconds left to push the Warriors to victory, and a 2-0 series lead headed to San Francisco.

Curry ended the night with 34 points, tied with Klay for the most in the game. Edwards added 18 of his own.

Durant led the Heat with 30 while Butler responded from his disappointing Game 1 to score 26 points. Herro had 20 points off the bench to go with four steals.

As the series flips to Golden State, the Heat have to answer the call. A year ago down 2-0 at home, they couldn’t muster a complete rally. Will they be able to do something different this time around?

Game 3
Miami 117, Golden State 115 (Golden State leads 2-1)
The Heat won’t be silenced that quickly. After watching the Warriors provide dramatic victories on their homecourt, the Heat answer with one of their own on the road. Durant dominates, scoring 33 points with five rebounds and five assists, while Butler goes for 21-7-7. Herro continues his solid play, scoring 17 points.

Thompson led the Warriors with 34 points, while Curry added 27 points. Edwards had 11 and Turner had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Game 4
Miami 103, Golden State 102 (Series tied 2-2)
It appears no one told either team that the home team tends to win in the NBA Finals. With another dramatic win in which the Heat stifled a last second attempt by the Warriors, Miami ties the series at 2 and keeps the home team winless. Durant was the leading scorer in a defensive affair with 21 points, while Bam has 17 points and 17 rebounds. Herro had 17 of his own.

Rookie Ibraham Mobley led the Warriors with 19 points, while Curry had just 18 and Thompson, the leading scorer for the Warriors in the Finals, had just 10.

Through four games, the point differential for the two teams is tied. With the series flipping back to Miami, the Heat look to become the first team in the series to win on their home court.

Game 5
Golden State 115, Miami 114 (Golden State leads 3-2)
Golden State shows no fear of having to win on the road again, taking a dramatic Game 5 and giving themselves a chance to end the series at home. Thompson leads the Warriors, scoring 38 points in the win while Curry has 20. Kuminga has another big game, scoring 20 points with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.

Durant is held in check for the Heat, finishing with just 17 points. Butler also struggles, scoring seven points with four rebounds and nine assists. Enes Kanter was the Heat’s leading scoring with 22, while Herro and Walter Lemon Jr. had 20 a piece.

Game 6
Golden State 122, Miami 96 (Golden State wins series 4-2)
Maybe it was the fatigue of all the close games, or having to go on the road for an elimination game. But in a must-win Game 6 for both teams, the Warriors showed up at home and the Heat fizzled out.

Golden State dominated from the start, building a big first quarter lead before holding off any ideas of a Heat rally. The 26-point win is the only game in the series that was decided by more than two points, and the only game in which the home team won.

Curry and Thompson provided the offensive firepower, each finishing with 30 points. Curry added 10 rebounds and six assists en route to his third-straight Finals MVP. Curry finished the series with averages of 26.5, 5.3, 6.3 and 1.7 steals, shooting 53.5% from the floor and 54% from deep. Anthony Edwards had 20.

Durant comes up short yet again, despite a solid offensive performance from him and Butler. Durant had 28 points while Butler added 26. The big lack of production came from Herro, who finished with just six points after averaging 19.2 points through the first five games of the series.

[Knickerbocker91]

A great series that looks like a missed basket here or there could have sent things in a completely different direction. Congrats on the new dynasty, Steph is starting to end up in the MJ convo by now I would guess

[trekfan]

Wow, what a great Finals up until Game 6 -- that collapse is gonna stick with Durant and his legacy. The ball bounces a few different ways in any one of those previous games and the series results could have dramatically shifted ... the Warriors look set to compete for years to come if they can keep their aging vets healthy.

[marshdaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

A great series that looks like a missed basket here or there could have sent things in a completely different direction. Congrats on the new dynasty, Steph is starting to end up in the MJ convo by now I would guess

I would assume he's had to rise up the list now. I'm sure detractors would be put LeBron over him, and I see it tough to top MJ, but third of all time is a lock at this point. I'd argue first but i'm biased.

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Wow, what a great Finals up until Game 6 -- that collapse is gonna stick with Durant and his legacy. The ball bounces a few different ways in any one of those previous games and the series results could have dramatically shifted ... the Warriors look set to compete for years to come if they can keep their aging vets healthy.

Honestly, I think we have one more year of title contention then it might be some years where we are just competing for a playoff spot. When Steph hasn't played we've been about a .500 team, and as good as Edwards, Kuminga and Mobley are, none of them are ready to be the lead guy on a title contender. Edwards has the skillset to be but he's just an 81 overall.

We'll see what Giannis and Luka do. If a player like that becomes available, we'll put some of those three young guys in a deal and see what we can get for them.