When the postseason’s conference finals begin Tuesday night, four different title droughts are on the line — meaning one of them is guaranteed to come to an end next month when the NBA Finals wrap.
Three of the teams remaining in the playoffs — the Indiana Pacers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves — have never won a title in their current hometowns.
This is a Conference Finals round with no Steph Curry, no LeBron James, no Kevin Durant, no Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook or James Harden.
The Thunder and Timberwolves tip off for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
The winners of each best-of-seven series will advance to the NBA Finals, which begin June 5.
The parity era of the NBA has officially begun.
Four different title droughts are at stake when the postseason’s conference finals get underway on Tuesday night; one of them will undoubtedly end when the NBA Finals conclude next month.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Indiana Pacers are the three playoff teams that have never taken home a championship. Furthermore, it has been over fifty years since the fourth team, the New York Knicks, won a championship.
Over twenty-five years have passed since the New York Knicks made it to the Finals, and they haven’t won a championship since 1973. Although Oklahoma City hasn’t experienced the championship series since 2012, the Thunder are the most recent team to win it all, having done so in 1979 if you include the accomplishments of the Seattle SuperSonics prior to their 2008 move to Oklahoma.
The Pacers haven’t taken home a championship since joining the NBA, despite being a dominant force in the American Basketball Association in the early 1970s. Since their founding in 1989, the Timberwolves have failed to make it to the Finals.
“It’s one of the most wide open years that we’ve seen,” said Rick Carlisle, the head coach of Indiana, following the Pacers’ victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to end the series. We must consider this to be exceptionally opportunistic. “.”.
The NBA has had a long history of parity issues. One dynasty has frequently simply given way to another since the 1980s, as seen with the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Lakers again, Miami Heat, and Golden State Warriors. Twenty-three out of the 78 NBA champions have won consecutive titles. 14 additional teams won a championship the year after their Finals defeat.
However, since the Toronto Raptors upset the Golden State Warriors in 2019, those numbers have remained stagnant.
That year, the Pacers’ 31-year-old forward Pascal Siakam experienced a little taste of glory. In his third NBA season, Siakam recalled earlier this month that he thought he would make it to the Finals with the Raptors once more. However, he was traded to the Pacers last year after the Raptors failed to replicate.
At times, Siakam admitted, “I can sound like I’m trying to ruin the party, where everyone wants to be excited and I’m just like, ‘Man, I want more.'”. “We must not undervalue this genuine opportunity. “,”.
A large number of the remaining players are also new. This round of the Conference Finals is devoid of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Steph Curry.
Instead, a younger generation of superstars, including 23-year-old Anthony Edwards from Minnesota, 26-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from Oklahoma City, 25-year-old Tyrese Haliburton from Indiana, and 28-year-old Jalen Brunson from New York, lead the four teams.
When the Thunder last made it to the Conference Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander was still a high school student. He stated afterwards that the pressure had begun to feel heavy ahead of last Sunday’s series-deciding Game 7 against Denver.
“To be honest, I shut off my phone. Following the Thunder’s decisive victory over Denver, Gilgeous-Alexander stated, “I wanted to, as best as I could, block out all the noise.”. “During the two days [off], the nerves were in my stomach. “..”.
Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. is when the Thunder and Timberwolves tip off for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. M. ET. The Pacers and Knicks play the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday. The NBA Finals start on June 5 and will be attended by the winners of each best-of-seven series.
