The Warriors have contributed steadily to the NBA record book during their Steph Curry-led run of championships, and they’re not finished. Golden State made yet another lasting mark in advancing to its fifth-consecutive NBA Finals, becoming just the second club to do so, joining the Celtics of the 1950s and 60s.
Those Celtics appeared in the NBA Finals for 10-straight seasons, from 1957-66. Led by center Bill Russell, Boston won championships in nine of those seasons. The Warriors will go for their fourth title in five tries when they battle the Eastern Conference champion, either the Raptors or Bucks, beginning May 30.
The Warriors’ run is still impressive when considering the other three major professional sports leagues in North America, the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball. They’re just the sixth franchise to play in five-straight championship games, according to the Warriors’ public relations department. The last team to have such success was the NHL’s New York Islanders, from 1979-84.
That the Warriors swept the Blazers in the Western Conference Finals without arguably the best player in the NBA, Kevin Durant, only adds wonderous mystique to their accomplishment.
But despite the franchise’s successes, and there are a lot, Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and the rest of the Warriors need Durant to return from a calf strain to finish this historic season on top and win their third consecutive NBA title, earning NBA immortality alongside Russell’s Celtics in the process.
