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This could be the first year in NBA history that both conference finals end in sweeps.
The 2023 NBA Playoffs have already been one of the strangest and most unique postseasons the sport has seen in recent memory.
We have already seen a team in the Sacramento Kings, who made the playoffs for the first time in almost two decades, take the defending champions Golden State Warriors to seven games. We then saw the team many left for dead in the Los Angeles Lakers dismantle them in round two. Then we saw probably the least hyped No. 1 seed (the Denver Nuggets) in recent memory destroy the star-laden Phoenix Suns in a series that wasn’t even as close as the 4-2 may suggest. Out East, another team that most people didn’t even have on their radar, the Miami Heat, has steamrolled it is way from the No. 8 seed into the conference finals like they were the best team all season. Finally, you had the Philadelphia 76ers fold like a cardboard box and blow a 3-2 lead. Sorry, disregard that last sentence that is not unique or new.
That leads us to the conference finals, where you had the Nuggets, who have never made it past the conference finals in their franchise history, vs. one of if not the most storied franchises in NBA history, the Lakers. To top it off, a Lakers team that has LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
In the Eastern Conference finals, you had another team on the Mount Rushmore of NBA teams, the Boston Celtics vs. the eight-seed Miami Heat. The Celtics are coming off an NBA Finals appearance just last season.
Even though the Nuggets were the number one seed, no one would have been surprised if we saw a Lakers vs. Celtics classic finals matchup. However, something funny happens on the way to another Lakers and Celtics matchup. It seems the Nuggets and Heat did not get the message.
Not only have both the Heat and Nuggets taken control of their conference finals matchups, but both have dominated the first three games of each series. So much so that one more win by each team in their next game would have NBA fans witnessing something they have never seen in NBA history.
If the Heat and Nuggets win their next games, then both conference finals will end in sweeps. That has never happened in the conference finals in NBA history, going back to 1971, when the conference finals first started.
That’s right, in a year where the two most storied franchises are in the conference finals, their opponents have a chance to set an NBA record by sweeping the NBA’s most famous teams. Even more amazing, the Lakers (19) and the Celtics (10) have won the most conference championships in NBA history.
Think about that. We are talking about 52 years. It has never happened. Not during the 80s when the Celtics and Lakers dominated the era. Not during the 90s when the Bulls and teams like the Utah Jazz and Sonics would meet in the NBA Finals. Not even when the dynasty Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers met in the NBA Finals every year.
So remember, while you are watching tonight’s and possibly tomorrow’s games, you could be watching one of the least competitive but still fascinating conference finals in the history of the NBA.
