2010s NBA Finals, Ranked: 8-7
Looking back at the 10 NBA Finals played during the 2010s, I bring you the second of a seven-part series where I rank them
I’ll be honest: I looooove the 2010s decade of NBA basketball. I might be somewhat biased towards it, simply because it’s the period of time in which I got into watching, enjoying and talking about basketball, but it’s still great nevertheless. The amount of all-time greatness we witnessed in it is startling and would take a while to put into words, but those that have been around know how great basketball was during that span.
In terms of talent alone, the decade might go down as the second-best (behind the 2000s), and the historic moments that happened on the basketball court are ones that will live forever. More specifically, the moments we witnessed during some championship series were remarkably great, and deserve their spot in a museum to celebrate basketball's greatest moments. However, since I'm not a museum director, I'll do the best I can to commemorate my favorite decade of NBA basketball and its moments: rank those series.
In appreciation of the 2010s and all those memorable moments it gave us, let's reminisce on the very best matchups (in most cases) each season had to offer: the NBA Finals of the decade. As the series that crowns a champion and acts as a ladder that a player can use to establish himself as one of the best in history, we saw some great series and individual performances during the 10 Finals of the 2010s. With that in mind, let's rank 'em! (because what else are we doing?).
Before I resume my rankings, let’s look over the criteria I used:
Historical Precedent: record(s) broken in series, impact series had on a player’s legacy, and everything else like that.
Competitiveness: number of games in series and margin of said games.
Rewatchability: being able to rewatch the series and enjoy it impartially.
Injuries: key injuries that impacted the result of the series.
This is part two of a seven-part series. You can find part one here
Without any further adieu, let’s continue the ranking with 8 and 7 on my list:
8. 2019: Golden State Warriors vs Toronto Raptors (Raptors won 4-2); MVP: Kawhi Leonard (28.5pts, 9.8reb, 4.2astl, 2.0stl, 1.2blk on 43.4/35.7/90.6 shooting)
When the Raptors’ 2017-18 campaign came to a close after being swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, it was time for a reality check; they had already surprised and proved they could compete in 2015-16, they didn’t stand a chance against an all-time great team in 2016-17, but 2017-18 was supposed to be the year. That season, they had the best record in the East (59 wins, second-best in the NBA behind Houston), the DeMar DeRozan/Kyle Lowry duo was still doing wonders, they had the best second unit in the NBA with their “Bench Mob”, and they had both a top-five defense and offense.
Even further, the Cavs were a considerably weaker team (more on them in part one of these rankings). However, the story was the same: they blew Game One at home (had led for the entire game until Overtime), fell victim to a LeBron James barrage in Game Two, and got the same treatment in Game Three (including a heart breaker at the buzzer), by which point they stood no chance in Game Four.
The “LeBronto” meme was born, and it was time for some serious reflection by the franchise on what their ceiling was with the team they had. While they had a good and deep roster, they had fallen to a LeBron team three seasons in a row. While many would have made changes to the back end of the roster, Masai Ujiri went for the home run swing of a star/star swap, acquiring a disgruntled Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio in exchange for DeRozan. The Kawhi/Spurs had deteriorated past the point of no return, and the Raptors swooped in to make their best attempt towards winning a championship. The DeRozan trade (which even shocked him) and firing COY Dwane Casey to promote Nick Nurse to his first head coaching gig seemed confusing at the time.
However, the home run swing generated a great regular season: they won 58 games despite a multitude of injuries to the roster (including Leonard missing 22 games due to “load management”), Kawhi played and fit well with the roster, Pascal Siakam went from part of the “Bench Mob” to a legit second/third option on a contender, Fred VanVleet to be a reliable player as well (as a bench player and occasional starter), Lowry still had it, and the addition of Marc Gasol at the trade deadline proved to do wonders for the squad.
Ujiri didn’t think twice about using his ammunition for this title run, because the time to win a championship was now or never; not only was the guy who had beaten them three years in a row out of the conference, but Kawhi was set to hit free agency in the summer, and it was well-documented that it was unlikely that he would stay in Toronto. The Raptors gave it all for this one shot at glory, which meant they had to put all their chips in this one basket to go for it.
Even with that, they still had to battle through immense adversity to get back to the Conference Finals for the first time in three years: they lost their first playoff game at home against the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic (D.J. Augustin had the game of his life), and they trailed 1-2 to the 76ers in the second round heading into Game Four on the road, by which point the Kawhi acquisition paid dividends as he put the team on his back by scoring 39pts (22 in the second half) on the road to tie the series and 41pts in Game Seven (including the walk-off shot that is now synonymous with Toronto basketball). Despite all of that, they lost the first two games of the Conference Finals against the Bucks (who had the best record in the NBA that season) before winning four straight to have a shot at winning the Larry O’Brien trophy.
While they had to make numerous changes to the roster, their opponent was a bunch that was in their fifth straight championship series and was searching for that elusive three-peat. The Warriors entered the series as favorites to win for the simple reason that they had more experience in that environment, and looked like the better of the two teams. Outside of the KD/Draymond incident that may or may not have impacted their chemistry for the remainder of the season, everything was smooth sailing in Golden State.
They had their fair share of nagging injuries throughout the campaign, including their new addition in DeMarcus Cousins only playing in 30 contests. They were still pretty good, although their playoff run was tougher than usual: they dropped two games to the Clippers in the first round (which featured one of the best comebacks in playoff history in Game Two by LA), had to eliminate the Rockets on the road without Durant in the final game (in which Steph went off to score all 33 of his points in the second half), and swept the Blazers in the Conference Finals without KD.
Entering the Finals, the Warriors had two things against them: for starters, they would be without Durant and there was no indication on when he could return; whether he was the best player or not, there’s no denying the team could use his scoring and defense against the Raptors’ length (Kawhi, Siakam, Ibaka, and Gasol). Beyond that, they stared down the one man who many would argue had the best chance of shattering their dynasty before it even began.
You may recall the 2017 Western Conference Finals, a series the Warriors entered undefeated in the playoffs and faced the Spurs. In the first game of the series, the Warriors faced a 25-point deficit in the second quarter. In the three and a half quarters he played, Leonard led the charge with 26pts and 8reb (7-13 shooting and 11-11 on free throws). Of course, he didn’t play the whole game because of the Pachulia incident. When he left, San Antonio led 78-55 with 7:53 left. From that point until the end of the game, Golden State outscored the Spurs 58-33 to win 113-111 and proceeded to sweep the series. Now, we could argue for days on whether or not the Spurs would’ve ended up winning the series, and even that game. With that said, one thing is for sure: a Kawhi-led squad could hang with the Warriors juggernaut.
The Finals were underway in Toronto, Canada, the first time a Finals game was played outside of the United States. Toronto took Game One behind an excellent collective attack led by the playoff-career high 32pts of Pascal Siakam (who also had 8reb and 5ast and shot 14-17 from the field). Golden State gave them a taste of their own medicine in Game Two to knot the series up at one game apiece; Klay had 25pts, Steph had 23, Draymond nearly had a triple-double (17pts/10reb/9ast), Boogie Cousins (who was inserted into the starting lineup in his second game back since the first round to play big minutes) had 11pts/10reb/6ast and they charged through with another of their signature third quarters (outscored the Raptors 34-21 in the period, which included an 18-0 run). They nearly blew a heck of a game down the stretch but pulled it out after Iguodala hit the ‘dagger’ three in the final seconds of action.
However, there was a downside to the game for Golden State: Kevon Looney, their most reliable big man that was a good defender, suffered a fractured collar bone during the first half, which severely limited him in the rest of the series (it was initially reported he would be out for the series, but he came back in Game Four and played the rest of the way without being 100 percent), and Klay Thompson suffered a hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines for the next game due to precaution.
The Warriors had taken home-court advantage before two straight games at Oracle, a place where they had terrorized teams throughout the years. But, adversity was something Toronto faced and excelled against during that entire playoff run, as I stated earlier. And, to further compound things, Curry would have to play Game Three (basically) by himself.
The Raptors took Game Three, one that Golden State only led in when it was 5-4. Respect to Steph who gave it his all to try to win (47pts/8reb/7ast/2stl on 14-31 from the field, 6-14 from downtown, and 13-14 from the charity stripe), but it was to no avail as all five of the Raptors starters scored at least 17pts (led by Leonard who scored 30 with 7reb and 6ast on 9-17 shooting, 2-6 from three and 10-11 from the foul line). Seeing as Curry couldn’t do it by himself, Klay returned after his one-game absence to try to tie the series. And while Thompson certainly helped (28pts to Curry’s 27), it wasn’t enough as Kawhi went off for 36pts (17 in the third quarter) and 12reb to go up 3-1 in the series.
Being down 3-1 with the potential series clincher taking place at Toronto and the Warriors clearly needing more firepower and defense to compete, they called upon the ace up their sleeve once again: for Game Five, Kevin Durant was back. Durant had been out since Game Six of the second round with a calf strain, but was finally given the green light to practice and subsequently play. While there were doubts about how close to 100 percent he could be, at the very least he was an extra shooter, a capable on-ball creator (on occasions), and a very good and long defender.
Durant gave an early spark by hitting his first two shots from downtown, and it was on… until it wasn’t; with 9:46 left in the second quarter and after he had played 11:57 minutes, Durant went down on the floor as he tried a spin move on Ibaka, and everyone feared the worst as he was holding the same leg where his previous calf strain was in. Having to play the rest of the way as the series started, the Warriors led for most of the night (by as many as 12) and held on to win an amazing ballgame. They nearly blew it in the final period (in which the last five minutes were awesome to watch), but were able to hang on with Draymond Green blocking Lowry’s game-winning attempt.
It was time for Game Six, and something had to give: Toronto could clinch their first title while the experienced Dubs looked to force a Game Seven. The Raptors were set to play the biggest game in the history of their franchise, while the Warriors (depending on what happened with KD’s free agency, who was done for the series after tearing his Achilles) were suiting up for what could be their last hoorah. This being a game filled with stories, it was quite fitting that another developed after the action was underway: Kyle Lowry, someone best known prior to this for his disappointing performances in the postseason, got off to a rocket hot start, scoring 21 (15 in the first quarter) points in the first half (would finish the game with 26). Beyond this point, the contest wouldn’t disappoint.
After an 8-0 Lowry run to start the game, Golden State was able to close the gap, and the score was close throughout. Klay was keeping up with Lowry, scoring 18pts of his own in the first half, and had 10 in the 3rd qtr (28 for the game) before going up for a dunk in transition and, well, you know…
Just like that, the Warriors had to try and force a Game Seven with the same squad they had for Game Three, which was far from ideal. Even with that, for the second game in a row, the score was super tight at the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter, which again led to both teams playing a tremendous closing act to a fantastic game. Everyone outside of Curry contributed well for the Warriors, but the Raptors were hell-bent on closing this thing out: Fred VanVleet (who was starting in second halves of this series because of Danny Green’s struggles, and even ended up getting a vote for Finals MVP) scored 12 in the final frame, which led the charge of the Raptors’ four 20+ point scorers.
Even with hindsight, the game was stellar (18 lead changes, nine ties), but there could only be one winner: when it was all set and done, the Toronto Raptors had won their first championship in franchise history, closing it out in the last game ever played at Oracle Arena. Just like that, one of the best postseason runs in history had come to a close, and the Raptors had cemented themselves in history as one of the best teams to ever win a ring (the amount of top-end talent and depth they had was tremendous).
The series was a close one, with four of the six games being decided by less than double digits, and the last two being decided by less than five. Having said that, there are two factors that affect its ranking in comparison to the other seven that are ahead of it:
The first one (and the most obvious one at face value) are the injuries. As a fan of none of these teams, it was really sad to see Stephen Curry play basically by himself in Game Three, knowing he had to shoot every shot for his team to have a chance at winning, him having that all-time great game they needed, but still losing by 14. And, of course, have to reiterate about the Durant and Thompson injuries in the last two games. Even with this, the Dubs were a Curry three away from forcing a Game Seven, at which point anything could’ve happened.
The second one, ironically, is about something that didn’t happen in this series: an iconic game. I don’t know what it is about this series, but it doesn't feature that game that will be remembered throughout history. Maybe Game Two is remembered as evidence of how resilient the Warriors are, Game Five for KD’s injury and the final minutes, and/or Game Six because of the Raptors winning a championship. Time will tell, but at the moment I don't think any game of this series survives the test of time. And that’s not to say that the series didn’t have good games, because it clearly did (as I wrote about in the previous paragraphs), but rather that it doesn’t have an all-time great memorable game.
And that’s tough to judge considering we’re only two years removed from this series, but that’s the way I see it. The series was close, but injuries (especially at the level that it impacted the series) cause it to fall below the rest that, even if they have injuries that impacted the outcome, are ones that greatly changed legacies for some, game us some historic moments, and gifts us some of the best games and moments in NBA history.
While the 2019 series was about the old guard looking for history while their opponent looked to cash in on an opportunity they weren’t going to get again, this next one had a far more different tone. The next series on my ranking is one where two teams in completely different spectrums: one was an upstart looking to establish itself as a top dog, while the other needed to win to avoid the crash and fall of what seemed like a beautiful reality…
7. 2012: Miami Heat vs Oklahoma City Thunder (Heat won 4-1); MVP: LeBron James (28.6pts, 10.2reb, 7.4ast, 1.6stl on 47.2/18.8/82.6 shooting)
The Miami Heat weren’t supposed to be in this position, let’s make that perfectly clear: they lost Chris Bosh in the second round against an Indiana Pacers team that had David West and Roy Hibbert playing amazing, but Dwyane Wade and LeBron James found a way to will Miami to win that series. They were down 2-3 against a Boston Celtics team that, even though they were in their last season being a legitimate championship contender with their Big Three (or Big Four, depending who you ask), they had a great squad. They would’ve been in the Finals if it wouldn’t have been for the best performance of LeBron’s career in Game Six in Boston, which then led to a Heat Game Seven victory in Miami.
All of this came after a major failure the year prior when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals after they (mainly LeBron) boasted about being loaded and winning more than seven championships during their celebration in the summer of 2010. Although their regular season was fueled by a quest for revenge after their disappointing loss the season prior, which fittingly started on Christmas Day at Dallas, it could’ve come to an abrupt end at different points of their playoff run, which would’ve definitely resulted in huge changes. Instead, the Heat had another shot at proving the fit between their star trio could work by winning a championship.
Opposing them were the young Oklahoma City Thunder, which had made the Conference Finals the year prior (lost to the eventual champion Mavs), and were a defensive rebound away from forcing a Game Seven against the defending (and eventual) champion LA Lakers in the first round the year before that. Now, in 2012, they finished second in the West (had one more win than the Heat) in the lockout-shortened season, and reached the first of what everyone thought would be many NBA Finals after an incredible playoff run where they swept the defending champion Mavs in the first round, beat the Lakers in five and got one over the veteran Spurs in the Conference Finals.
The young core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka was in the way of the first championship of LeBron and the Big Three in Miami. While the Heat looked for the championship they should’ve won the previous year, the Thunder looked to establish themselves as the team that could run the league for the entire decade.
Besides this, it was the first time that Durant and James matched up on the grandest stage the NBA has to offer. While both were often regarded as two of the best five players in the world during that season and looked capable of keeping that status for the foreseeable future (shocker: they did), it served as the first occasion we got a taste of what they looked like against each other when it mattered the most. The Durant/LeBron clashes defined most of the 2010s, and this served as the beginning of that rivalry for NBA supremacy that could be regarded as one of the best superstar rivalries in sports history.
OKC took Game One behind a spectacular performance from KD (36pts *17 in the fourth quarter* /8reb/4ast on 12-20 from the field, 4-8 on threes, and 8-9 on free throws). Miami then tied the series thanks to the 32pts/8reb/5ast from LeBron, 24pts/6reb/5ast from Wade, and a 16pts/15reb double-double from Bosh; in this game, they led wire-to-wire after starting up 20-5. The Heat took a 2-1 lead in Game Threethanks to LeBron’s 29pts/14reb outing, which set the table for an epic Game Four that would, in a way, decide the series; either Miami took a commanding 3-1 lead, or the Thunder tied it at 2-2.
Durant (28pts on 9-19 shooting) brought his A-game per usual, but his teammate Russell Westbrook took it to a whole other level with his 43pts/7reb/5ast (20-32 shooting) masterpiece. Both Russ (10pts) and KD (8pts) started off hot in the first quarter to put OKC up 33-19 after one, the Heat made it a three-point game at the half, and LeBron and D-Wade (10pts each) led the charge in the third period to take a four-point lead heading into the fourth. Westbrook gave it his all, scoring 17 of his 43 in the period to keep OKC close and even take a 94-92 lead with 4:21 left in the game.
However, no other Thunder player besides the star duo scored in double figures, all while the Heat had three 25+ point scorers. One of them was Mario Chalmers, who scored 12 of his 25 in the fourth period, who came off averaging 5.7pts on 31.8 percent from the field and 30 percent from three in the first three games of the series. Dwyane Wade also scored 25, and LeBron poured in a 26pts/12ast/9reb near triple-double, including a huge three-pointer after he came out due to cramps to put them up 97-94 with 2:51 left in the game, a lead they wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the game.
Up 3-1, the Heat entered what would be the final game of the series in their home court with a chance to close it out, thus avoiding a Game Six or Game Seven on the road. And, damn, did they ever take advantage of that chance: fueled by a 36-22 third quarter (including a 23-8 run to close the period), the Heat shot 14-26 from behind the arc for the game, LeBron James led them with a triple-double (26pts/11reb/13ast), five other players scored in double figures (including Mike Miller, not at 100 percent, who was the difference-maker with 23pts on seven threes), and Miami won their first championship with their Big Three. With that, LeBron finally got his first ring, solidifying his spot among the all-time greats.
Besides the halfway point of the fourth quarter in Game One and the second half of Game Five, this series was close and entertaining. Even though it was in a lost cause, the series served as a stage for Kevin Durant to show that he deserved to be in the same conversation as the other greats in the league, showing out against the best player in the world and in the grandest stage of them all (he averaged 30.6pts, 2.2ast, 1.4stl, 1.0blk on 54.8/39.4/83.9 shooting).
It was clear back then that it wouldn’t be the last we saw of Durant fighting for a championship. The series also featured some iconic moments for the decade, such as LeBron closing out Game Four after his cramps, the “Mike Miller game” in Game Five, the moment where LeBron is celebrating with D-Wade after winning his first championship (solidified him coming to South Beach in the first place), and it was the last game that Durant, Westbrook, and Harden played together (Harden was traded before the start of the following season), which would make them one of the biggest ‘what-ifs’ in NBA history.
While LeBron’s team was the one celebrating like crazy on this occasion, he would also be on the receiving end of one of the most dominant performances in NBA history.
More on that in part three of this ranking, which can be found here