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The Western Conference's third-seeded Golden State Warriors and Eastern Conference's second-seeded Boston Celtics meet in the NBA Finals. The Warriors and Celtics last met in a championship series in 1964, when Bill Russell registered the third of his seven playoff victories in eight tries against Wilt Chamberlain.

How they got here

Golden State Warriors (53-29)

The Warriors started the regular season 18-2 and resembled the pre-Kevin Durant version of Golden State's dynasty through November, two months before Klay Thompson returned from consecutive season-ending injuries and weeks into the careers of lottery draft picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.

When Thompson returned in January, Draymond Green suffered a back injury, and when Green returned, Stephen Curry sprained his left foot. The three pillars of Golden State's six trips to the Finals played only 22 meaningful possessions together during the regular season. Their absences allowed Andrew Wiggins to earn his first All-Star appearance and Jordan Poole to emerge as a Most Improved Player candidate.

The lineup inconsistency led the Warriors to limp into the postseason with a sub-.500 record after the All-Star break, but they coalesced once Curry returned for the start of the playoffs. Their offensive firepower made quick work of the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks, who were respectively dependent on the singular greatness of Nikola Jokic in the first round and Luka Doncic in the Western Conference finals.

Golden State was tested only by the Memphis Grizzlies, who pushed the conference semifinals to six games despite losing All-NBA point guard Ja Morant to a right knee injury for half the series. The Warriors scored 113.5 points per 100 possessions — equivalent to a top-10 regular season offense — in their series against the Grizzlies and Mavericks, who owned the regular season's sixth- and seventh-rated defenses.

Offense has always been Golden State's calling card, but when the Warriors were winning championships, they played high-level defense, and they finished second in that regard over the course of the regular season (106.6 points allowed per 100 possessions). That figure has fallen to 111 in the playoffs, which would have ranked 13th during the regular season and is fifth among the last eight playoff teams standing.