The Denver Nuggets’ title defense came agonizingly close to living to see another round, before an avalanche buried their hopes of franchise title No. 2.
After squandering a 20-point lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves on their home court, the Nuggets trailed by just a possession within the final five minutes of the teams’ Game 7 matchup, 85-82. Then, Minnesota made its move. Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid extended the Wolves’ lead to seven points with a pair of free throws and a dunk, before breakout superstar Anthony Edwards drained a three-pointer from the corner to secure a 92-82 advantage.
The flash of Minnesota points was the late-game push the Timberwolves needed to secure control. Denver center Nikola Jokic helped the Nuggets cut the deficit to five but couldn’t complete a rally, as the underdog visitors finished off the reigning champs with a 98-90 Game 7 victory.
For the Timberwolves, the West semifinals victory represented one of the greatest wins in franchise history, marking one of two occasions in which Minnesota has advanced to the conference finals (2004 was the first). For the Nuggets, the loss finished off a steady and promising season that spiraled out of control in a confusing second-round series — more of a stunner than the closure of a championship window.
For the NBA itself, the result signaled that parity is alive and well in the league playoffs, which historically have tended to favor chalky results over Cinderella stories.
With Denver’s elimination, the playoff bracket is left with two teams that have never won a Finals (the Timberwolves and Pacers), one team that won most recently in 2011 (the Mavericks) and one that captured its last crown in 2008 (the Celtics). Regardless of the result, the league will also have its sixth unique champion over a six-season stretch, with this year’s winner joining the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors, 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers, 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks, 2021-22 Golden State Warriors and 2022-23 Denver Nuggets as title-winners. The last time the NBA had a stretch of six seasons with six different champions was from 1975-1980, right around the merger of the NBA and ABA.
That’s a remarkable trend for a league that has been ruled by dynasties ever since. Between the Lakers and Celtics in the 1980s, Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the 1990s, the Spurs and Lakers in the 2000s and the Heat and Warriors in the 2010s, June has spawned more sequels than original movies, with superstars like LeBron James and Jordan constantly facing off against worthy opponents in the final round. But the 2020s? No teams qualify for dynasty status, which requires a minimum of a couple of titles, and typically more.
Even the losing teams on the NBA Finals marquee have shuffled over the years. The Miami Heat are the only team to appear in two Finals since the 2019-20 season (the Celtics could join them by advancing past the Eastern Conference Finals), while the Phoenix Suns made their first Finals appearance in the 21st century in between and have been unable to recreate the magic in the seasons since.
In terms of the most compelling NBA Finals matchups in recent history, familiar matchups are the ones that have made for the most memorable finishes: the Cavaliers’ upset of the 73-win Golden State Warriors in 2016, Ray Allen’s perfect corner three to keep Miami’s hopes alive against San Antonio in 2013, Michael Jordan’s “Last Dance” heroics against the Utah Jazz for the Bulls’ second three-peat in 1998. Each of those Finals matchups was also staged in either the previous season or the next, and the familiarity only increased the drama.
But the NBA’s current trend of parity isn’t taking a toll on the product.
Yes, NBA Finals will be better with a generational star like Jordan or James as the hero or villain and their legacies in the balance. The last five playoffs have not sacrificed star power, though, and the range of champions has produced some terrific storylines.
Denver and Toronto captured their first championships in franchise history behind historic efforts from Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard, specifically, while Giannis Antetokoumpo proved his playoff worth in securing Milwaukee’s first title since 1971. The Lakers and Warriors have accumulated plenty of hardware prior to their recent championship wins, but their runs to the title still featured fascinating twists and turns. These teams wouldn’t classify in the 90s Bulls or 2000s Lakers tier of dominant champions, but they’re not the relatively anonymous 2004 Detroit Pistons, either.
This year’s final four should provide a worthy successor to these teams. The Boston Celtics should be the favorites to take home their 18th NBA Finals victory after easily dispatching the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, and a win would validate Jayson Tatum’s superstar status and Boston’s fascinating era of title contention. On the Western Conference side of the bracket, the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards could secure their spot as one of the league’s best five players with a championship, and each star guard has an adeptly-assembled supporting cast that would be up for the challenge of facing the Celtics. And if you believe in Cinderella teams, the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers are as close as you will get in the modern NBA (writer’s note: it’s hard to argue the Pacers would be a compelling watch in the Finals this season).
The NBA is not a league where all 30 teams have a real shot at winning the championship. But the league’s turn towards parity has increased the unpredictability of the lengthy playoffs, while not compromising the legitimacy of each title. Given that the NBA doesn’t have a definitive face of the league or reigning dynasty at the time, a churning door of champions has proven to be an intriguing alternative, mixing in first-time champions backed by passionate fan bases with up-and-coming stars establishing themselves as playoff legends.
Whether Boston, Minnesota, Dallas or Indiana hoists the NBA Finals trophy, this year’s championship series will be more than just a rehashing of storylines. And even for fans outside of those markets, those euphoric moments and legacy-defining thrills will be must-watch entertainment.
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