After the victory of the Warriors in Game 4, these NBA Finals are completely relaunched and they look more undecided than ever. In order to get an idea of what awaits us (perhaps) next, we decided to consult the history books of the League. It’s time for a little look back!
That the fans of the Warriors and the Celtics do not pull out the flamethrower, we are not Mrs. Irma and we will be careful not to make a projection concerning the continuation of the events in these Finals 2022. However, and for fun, we decided to look into the NBA’s past to see if any Finals had a similar storyline to this year’s. For that, nothing could be easier, we look at the Finals between 1947 and 2021 and we only keep those where there were 2-2. Then, we remove all those that are not in the current format in 2-2-1-1-1, that is to say two games for the one who has the advantage of the field, then two games for his rival and we alternate a match at one and then at the other. As soon as this little sorting is finished, we come across sixteen NBA Finals. Of these sixteen NBA Finals, we keep those who are 2-2 with an away victory for each team. You will understand, we want the exact scenario of this Warriors-Celtics. Bingo, twelve results match. So what does the history of the League tell us about these twelve games? First lesson that should appeal to Dubs fans: the team with the home field advantage in Game 5 wins the series ten times out of the twelve confrontations. Only Saint-Louis in 1958 and… Boston in 1974 managed to deceive the forecasts. These will obviously be the models to follow for Jayson Tatum and company.
Another stat that is interesting and that will push fans to watch the next match on Monday: eleven times out of twelve the winner of Game 5 is the winner of the series. (9-2 record for the home team) Suffice to say that it will be better not to miss the Chase Center tomorrow evening. For fun, we also looked at the craziest scenario in the batch and this one should appeal to fans of the… Celtics. In 1974, Boston faces Milwaukee without the advantage of the field and manages (as seen above) to win again in Wisconsin in Game 5. The Bucks do not let it go and will in turn win at Boston Garden in Game 6. You’d think luck had turned for the clover lovers, but a great Dave Cowens would lead the Celtics to a third victory in hostile territory to give Beantown a new banner. Going to win three times away in the NBA Finals is no small feat, but it’s not mission impossible for the 2022 version of the Celtics. The proof, the band of Ime Udoka came out this way against the Heat in the previous round (victory in Games 2, 5 and 7 outside). Bis repetita against Golden State?
2-2, an away win for each team, it’s a scenario that is not so common in the NBA Finals and history pushes in favor of the home team, so Golden State. Can Boston prove the odds wrong? Answer from Game 5.
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