Over and Back: History and facts on the 2018 NBA Finals

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 12: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors in Game Five of the 2017 NBA Finals on June 12, 2017 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich look at the historical comps for four straight NBA Finals matchups, the history between the Warriors and the Cavaliers as well as LeBron’s incredible run of eight straight NBA Finals.

Topics include Golden State and Cleveland meeting in their fourth straight NBA Finals — where does that rank historically? What other NBA Finals repeat matchups have we seen throughout history? We’ll look at the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks battling in the late 50s/early 60s, Los Angeles Lakers and Celtics battling throughout the 60s as well as Lakers vs. New York Knicks, Seattle Supersonics vs. Washington Bullets, Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz vs. Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs vs. Miami Heat. We’ll look at how many times these teams faced off in the NBA Finals, what brought them to the league championship and how the franchise fared following their matchups.

We also delve into the teams that went to four straight NBA Finals, a small list including only a few teams (Celtics, Lakers, Celtics, Heat, Cavaliers and Warriors). LeBron’s amazing 8th straight NBA Final and how his Finals streak beats almost every team’s playoff streak, players with the most consecutive NBA Finals appearances including Bill Russell, Sam Jones and of course, James Jones.

Additional topics include players who made it to more than four NBA Finals over two franchises including LeBron James, James Jones, Steve Kerr and Pep Saul. Players to have made nine or more NBA Finals including Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Magic Johnson and more.

Last but not least, a recap of the previous three Cavaliers/Warriors Finals matchups including a thrilling early series in the 2015 NBA Finals before the Warriors took off and kickstarted their dynasty, the Cavaliers coming back from 3-1 in 2016 NBA Finals to finally bring a championship to the city of Cleveland and Kevin Durant joining the Warriors for playoff and NBA Finals domination in 2017.

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Over and Back: History and facts on the 2018 NBA Finals

By Rich Kraetsch | May 30, 2018

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