The NBA Finals are finally here. There are no dynastic teams this year. I for one genuinely enjoyed a postseason where the outcome was not predetermined, and neither of these teams has won a title in my lifetime. The Eastern and Western champs are two extremely good basketball teams with boatloads of talent, so let’s take a look at the matchup!
Who’s left?
The Suns of Phoenix, Arizona (it’s a real place, I’m told. —Ed.) and the Bucks of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (I have definitely been there, so can confirm it exists or did exist at some point. —Ed.).
The Suns went 51-21, good enough for second-best record in basketball and second-best record in the Western Conference. The Bucks went 46-26, good enough for the third-seed in the East, but they were within a couple of wins of the one-seed for the entire season. Take it as axiomatic that these are two of the best teams in basketball and worthy of being here.
Who’s not here?
Pour one out for the Atlanta Hawks, who were eventually defeated by the Bucks in the last round thanks to an untimely hobbling of wispy superstar Trae Young. The Hawks were easily the most exciting team in the entire playoffs, and I sincerely hope that they are even better next year since they did the obviously correct thing and officially hired Nate McMillan as their head coach.
The LA Clippers were also eliminated for the second season in their disastrous superteam campaign. The finger-pointing will continue for several more years, as they cashed in every draft pick they have until something like 2027 to assemble this group of lumps.
The Philadelphia 76ers were blasted in the previous round by the Atlanta Hawks, which would have annoyed me more had the Hawks not been super fun. I really like the Sixers, but sometimes you hit a bad matchup in the playoffs.
The Nets, Lakers, Warriors, and Celtics (or for those who didn’t keep up with the free agent carousel, Durant, Harden, Kyrie, Lebron, Steph, Draymond Green, Jayson Tatum) will also be watching from home.
The Phoenix Suns? Really?
The Suns are squirrely and dominant. They have a homegrown superstar in Devin Booker, and they have future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul running point in his first Finals of a very long career. They have big man Deandre Ayton, who has seemingly leveled up in the past few games. They have a platoon of decent defensive players (Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, E’Twaun Moore, Jevon Carter) and enough shooting help that they don’t fold when Booker is double-teamed (mustachioed Dario Saric, Cam Payne, Frank Kaminsky sometimes).
They have the extremely likeable Monty Williams as their head coach in his second year in that position.
The Suns are going to win the title. Let’s just be clear.
The Milwaukee Bucks Have Players Other than Giannis?
Hopefully! Giannis Antetokuonmpo is injured and may miss at least Game 1 (they are unlikely to confirm his status until the last minute, which would be some time this afternoon). Kudos to the Bucks for defeating the Hawks in the ECF without Giannis, although I think that Trae Young’s injury had a larger effect on that final game.
A best-of-seven against the Suns is a different story. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday and the rest of the Bucks will have a very different challenge now, as the Suns have a wider array of offensive threats and a deeper bench. I’ve never liked the stodgy offense of the Bucks. Basically: four men stand around the three-point line and wait for Giannis to sprint straight at the basket for a dunk. When he is triple-teamed, he passes to an open man who then bricks a 3. Repeat for 48 minutes. With Giannis out, the offense runs through Middleton and looks a little more dynamic, but I think that the Suns can sufficiently jam up passing lanes, especially if Ayton gets to defend anywhere near the basket.
With Giannis, this series is far closer, but I still think that the Suns take it.
How Do I Watch This Series?
ABC.
- Game 1: tonight at 9pm EDT
- Game 2: Thursday, 7/8/21 at 9pm EDT
- Game 3: Sunday, 7/11/21 at 8pm EDT
- Game 4: Wednesday, 7/14/21 at 9pm EDT
(if necessary)
- Game 5: Saturday, 7/17/21
- Game 6: Tuesday, 7/20/21
- Game 7Thursday, 7/22/21
The Mouse owns ESPN and ABC, so you can watch the game via your ESPN app on your Playstation or whatever, or you can watch it on ABC.com, or cable TV, or local TV, or espn.com.
I am sad to report that the broadcast team will be Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson. Hopefully you like lots of dead air, complaints about current rules, and empty platitudes. I appreciate that Gundy gets lots of money to wear ill-fitting suits and be dyspeptic. And it’s so great that Mark Jackson talks almost exclusively about the Warriors regardless of whether they are playing, and has insights like “the thing is, the team that makes more plays down the stretch is gonna win.” But there is very little to compliment about this group other than that Breen is a polished play-by-play announcer.
It doesn’t matter. This is pro basketball. It will be thrilling, it will be fast-paced, the Suns have never won a title and the Bucks haven’t won since the 70s. There is a ton to like here, even as a casual viewer.