The four-time NBA champion once again secured a spot in that round after the Lakers defeated the. He was the clear MVP in the Warriors wins over Houston in 2015 and Portland in 2019. Brown got into a fight. The first NBA postseason was in 1947,3 but from 1947 through 1957, the path to the NBA Finals was inconsistent in terms of formatting. 2022 Playoffs: West Final | Warriors (3) vs. Mavericks (4) | NBA.com Led by Stephen Currys 31 points (5-10 3pt FG), along with five rebounds and 11 assists, the No. Despite being outscored 39-20 in the 4th, Dallas sends the West finals back to San Francisco behind 20 3-pointers and Luka Doncic's 30-point near triple-double. Led by Stephen Currys 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, the No. Ohm Youngmisuk: The trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have now won 21 playoff series together, the 2nd-most by any trio over the last 30 seasons per Elias Sports Bureau. While Magic is not the all-time leader in retroactive conference finals MVPs, his five are enough to give him a share of the Western Conference record, making it appropriate for the trophy to bear his name. However, the arrangement was only used for one season and the league went back into two divisions format in 1951. Andy Bailey May 25, 2022 Tom Pennington/Getty Images For the first time in NBA history, the league will name Conference Finals MVPs. 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NBA playoffs 2023 - Our insiders dissect the Eastern and Western Last year, the NBA announced that it will honor the MVPs of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. At the end of the playoffs, the top two teams play each other in the conference finals, to determine the Conference Champions from each side, who then proceed to play in the NBA Finals. The Western Conference Finals MVP trophy is named after Lakers legend Magic Johnson, while the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy is named after Celtics legend Larry Bird. (Note: This list goes back to 1950, when the league officially became the NBA following the merger of the BAA and NBL.). The Los Angeles Lakers have won the most conference titles with 19. The two divisions format remained until 1970, when the NBA realigned itself into two conferences with two divisions each, which led to the renaming to Conference finals. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster. 6 most likely candidates to earn Conference Finals MVPs The league has added Conference Finals MVP awards and redesigned every postseason trophy. Steph Curry wins Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP award Lakers, Lakers and more Lakers. Well, we don't have the "Back to the Future" Delorean, but we can run through the NBA history books and recognize some incredible playoff performances. An eight-time All-Star, Curry closed out the conference semis with his 31st career 20-plus point postseason outing, routinely hitting all the big shots weve come to expect from the future Hall of Famer. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. The winner of this best-of-seven series matchup will advance to The NBA Finals. Jerry West is the only player to win the NBA Finals MVP on a losing team, when he won the inaugural award in 1969. What's next for Mavs after deep playoff run? Dallas becomes the 147th team to face a 3-0 series deficit in the NBA playoffs. 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Brown gobbled up a total of seven steals in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and hes totaled 17 thefts in 11 playoff outings in 2022. Klay Thompson drains 8 shots from deep and scores 32 points to send Golden State past Dallas and into its 6th Finals in 8 years. Luka Doncic does his thing, but it was the work of Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie Bullock and Maxi Kleber that gets Dallas off the mat. Photo by John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images 9. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, Full Focus: Curry wins 1st Magic Johnson MVP award, Curry, Green join 'Inside' to discuss Warriors' revival, Nightly Notable: Vintage Klay delivers in Game 5, Warriors presented with Western Conference trophy. A fascinating Eastern Conference finals ended in shocking fashion on Monday, as the Miami Heat crushed the Boston Celtics on the road in Game 7, 103-84 to earn a trip to the NBA Finals for. Please check your email for a confirmation. Find out more. Bill Russell (3) Bird won the MVP in four of the five Celtics series wins during his career, with Kevin McHale taking the honor in a 1985 win over the 76ers. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, Full Focus: Curry wins 1st Magic Johnson MVP award, Curry, Green join 'Inside' to discuss Warriors' revival, Nightly Notable: Vintage Klay delivers in Game 5, Warriors presented with Western Conference trophy. four seed Mavericks in Game two, 126-117. Russells career was played when this series was known exclusively as the division finals, and its impressive that he comes out the winner so often even with the lack of detail on his shot-blocking and offensive rebounding, the former of which would have definitely padded his average Game Scores. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Ayton is a bit of a surprise pick. Russell won 11 rings, but his first retroactive conference finals MVP award comes in one of his two seasons in which he wasnt an NBA champion: 1958. At the conclusion of the conference finals, winners are presented with a silver trophy, caps, and T-shirts, and advance to the NBA Finals. Klay Thompson added 15 points (all 15 in the 2nd half), five rebounds and four assists for the Warriors in the victory, while Luka Doncic tallied 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Mavericks. 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Or write about sports? Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. Shaq, Chuck and Kenny offer their takes. three seed Warriors defeated the No. SEMIFINALS CONF. Miami cant just key in on Jayson Tatum in the Eastern Conference finals because the small forward has enough chemistry with Brown to routinely find the shooting guard for highlight-reel connections. Stephen Curry scores 32 points, Kevon Looney has a career night and Golden State erases an early 19-point deficit to beat Dallas 126-117 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. NBA Western Conference Finals History - VegasInsider.com The three losses came against Philadelphia (twice) and Detroit with all-time greats Julius Erving (1980, 1982) and Isiah Thomas (1988) taking those MVPs. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY SCHERER / NBA. The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. 2022 NBA Western Conference Finals - Basketball-Reference.com May 26, 2022 11:31 pm PT Steph Curry will have to make some room in his trophy case. ', Gone Fishin' finale: Mavs, Inside crew off to Cancun. four seed Mavericks in Game one, 112-87. Relive the Golden State sharpshooter's remarkable run to his 4th NBA championship and 1st Finals MVP award. In league where two (!) Jaylen Brown caught fire in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. 2022 Playoffs: Western Conference Finals - NBA.com Celtics' Jayson Tatum named MVP of Eastern Conference Finals SEMIFINALS CONF. The Warriors took to the streets in San Francisco to celebrate their 2022 NBA championship. His work has been published in ESPN the Magazine, ESPN.com and The Ringer. The silver basketball is quartered into four sections, representing the winning team first qualifying for the playoffs and then advancing through the three playoff rounds. Even two-time Kia MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo took notice, and wished Tatum well after Boston knocked Milwaukee out of the playoffs. The Warriors lead this best-of-seven series 3-1, with Game five taking place on Thursday, May 26. Players in bold were on teams that lost that conference or division final in seven games and had by far the highest average Game Score. three seed Warriors in Game four, 119-109. FiveThirtyEight hands out winner Western Conference finals MVP in 2012 The NBA names Western Conference finals MVP after Magic Johnson Andrew Brewster May 12, 2022 6:32 pm ET You could definitely make a case that Michigan State basketball legend Earvin 'Magic'. Predicting The Next 10 NBA Champions From 2023-24 To 2032-33 - MSN Jerry West, 5 (1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973), The Logo is the man tied with Magic Johnson for most retroactive Western finals MVPs. With the conference finals matchups finally set, starting with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday (8:30 ET, ESPN), followed by the opener Wednesday of the Western Conference finals, we take a look at the six candidates most likely to walk away with this new hardware. All rights reserved. The finals was a best-of-3 series from 1949 to 1950, a best-of-5 series from 1951 to 1956, and a best-of-7 series since 1957. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. 6 players who could win the Conference Finals MVP trophies (Getty Images) LeBron James finds himself back in a familiar place: the Conference Finals. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers have each played in at least one Conference finals (Atlanta and Sacramento have played in two), but they have each failed to win their respective conference title. Who is favored to win the 2021 NBA Finals MVP award? - NBC Sports 8 9 1 2022-23 NBA Championship Odds: The Nuggets Make History Ethan Diamandas June 14, 2023 For NBA fans, these playoffs were a blast. Teammates David Robinson (1999) and Tony Parker (2013) earned the retroactive MVPs in Duncans pair of other victorious conference finals appearances. NBA mailbag - Here's who should have won the NBA's new conference To award retroactive conference finals MVPs, I first needed to settle on a consistent metric. Who is the best player remaining in the playoffs? Finals MVP: Stephen Curry (31.2 / 6.0 / 5.0) 2022 Playoff Leaders: PTS: Jayson Tatum (615) . Interestingly, the Heat have finished with five different scoring leaders in their 11 postseason outings, but what you need to understand is the fact that playoff-mode Butler is a different beast. Put your men's basketball knowledge to the test with our new daily trivia game, Immaculate Grid. The lawsuit alleges the Pelicans star of failing to pay back on a $2 million loan. Postseason stats: 20.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg. Andrew Wiggins added a Playoff career-high 27 points, along with 11 rebounds for the Warriors in the victory, while Luka Doncic tallied 40 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks. To celebrate the leagues 75th anniversary, the league is adding postseason awards, and they will be naming one of them, the Western Conference finals MVP, after Magic himself. Western Conference Finals MVP (Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy) Eastern Conference Finals MVP (Larry Bird Trophy) ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player; All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (Kobe Bryant Trophy) Comeback Player of the Year; Sporting News Most Valuable Player; The two series are played in late May each year after the first and second rounds of the Playoffs and before the Finals. Put your men's basketball knowledge to the test with our daily men's basketball trivia game. For the Professional Basketball Writers Association award for dealing with media and public, see, NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award, "NBA introduces new lineup of postseason hardware featuring an evolution of the Larry O'Brien Trophy", "NBA unveils new trophies, awards honoring Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson", "The NBA's Conference Finals MVP Award Is New This Year. The NBA's Conference Finals MVP Award Is New This Year. But What If We Initially, the BAA teams were aligned into two divisions, the Eastern Division and the Western Division. Jordan Greer is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News. The NBA recently introduced a new lineup of postseason hardware with two major additions that will. The NBA Conference Finals Most Valuable Player Award ( MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 2022 NBA playoffs to the top performing players in the NBA Conference Finals. nba Which NBA stars would have won Western Conference Finals MVP? "Bob Cousy Trophy" redirects here. Andrew Wiggins posts his first 20-10 playoff performance, and he might have been the best player on the floor for both sides. Celtics star guard eyeing to help the Boston community at a greater capacity after agreeing to supermax extension. Curry averaged 26 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the Western Conference semifinals against Memphis, hitting 41.3% from the field, 32.9% from 3-point range and 89.2% from the free-throw line. His first win came in the Magics seven-game series win over the Pacers in 1995, when he overwhelmed a rugged Indiana frontcourt with an average Game Score of 21.6. Stephen Curry wins first ever Conference Finals MVP [2] The league currently consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and 1 in Canada. Join our linker program. Revisiting series history to hand out award Jordan Greer 4 min read (TSN Illustration) The ultimate goal for an NBA star. One important thing to note about Game Score is that a score of 10 is indicative of an average, run-of-the-mill game, while 40 is legendary. September 13, 2021 6:46 AM PREVIOUS SEASON | NEXT SEASON Two violent incidents cast a shadow over the game in 1977-78.