Why Thunder vs. Pacers gives NBA a Finals matchup to embrace and enjoy

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

My thoughts as the NBA Finals play on?
First, this is the series we needed to see. It's a look into the NBA's immediate future, one the Golden State Warriors will find difficult to negotiate, and Bay Area fans can only hope it prompts some major changes.
The league's high-scoring hierarchy is moving on past Stephen Curry, in a manner dramatically exemplified by Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton, each a prime-of-life superstar with a ton of presence. Not that they'll ever be Curry, as a shooter or an influence, but they represent a dynamically youthful revolution in the backcourt, and the signs are just as ominous in the Finals frontcourt with the Thunder's Chet Holmgren and Indiana's Myles Turner, hardly an upstart but still shy of his 30th birthday.
• What the Warriors are likely to encounter in trade talks: Jonathan Kuminga looms as a hidden gem, no guarantee to be a master of court vision but spectacular in the transition game. And that's it for high value outside the Big Three of Steph, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. The rest of the rotation players are strictly average by NBA standards. They fit into the league, they have their moments, and once again Warriors have a knack at bringing in character people. But on the scale of talent and track record: nothing special. Even the endearing Brandin Podziemski would be viewed by contending teams as a high-energy reserve.
• As a bonanza for small-market teams, these Finals are hardly welcomed by the TV networks, merchandise outlets, ticket-revenue proprietors or sponsors. But as a fan, that's not your problem.
Absolutely, Curry's Warriors against the Knicks — Games 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden — would be sensational theater. But in terms of big names and traditional settings, what are we really missing? Once you grew tired of the aging LeBron James and the ceaselessly complaining Luka Doncic, the Lakers were no fun at all. Minnesota's Anthony Edwards found himself stepping aside once again. Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo appear immersed in wanderlust.
• Above all, share the Celtics' hurt over Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear, perhaps costing him all of next season. That was an absolutely brutal development, one we've shared locally with Klay Thompson. But the Celtics had been exposed as a lazy, tedious outfit long before Tatum went down.
Running an offense that basically came down to five guys whipping passes around the perimeter — hey, one of these 3-point marksmen has to be open — they won a championship bearing no resemblance to the Celtics' finest traditions. This is the franchise that changed things: Bill Russell revolutionizing defense, Bob Cousy inventing the fancy fastbreak, Red Auerbach fielding the first all-Black starting five, John Havlicek setting the all-time standard for moving without the ball (like a blur, even if he was out there 48 minutes), and 3-point shooting rendered secondary by the 1985-86 frontcourt genius of Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
The modern Celtics haven't changed a thing, unless it's your viewing habits. After their Game 1 loss to the Knicks in the second round, Boston Globe columnist Gary Washburn claimed they were 'guilty of obscene arrogance, truly believing it's impossible to lose with their relentless long-range style.' It only got worse in Game 2, when the Celtics didn't take 45 shots from 3-point range, they missed 45, and their fourth-quarter disgrace — heaving 19 of their 20 shots from distance — was 'one of the stupidest damn stats I ever heard,' Charles Barkley said on TNT. 'Nobody's that dumb.'
• Nobody in the WNBA, that's for sure. What a haven for the fundamentals — and once you get past such obvious favorites as Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Bueckers, A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, you start discovering Natasha Cloud, Allisha Gray, Gabby Williams, Brittney Sykes, Leonie Fiebich, Sonia Citron — we could easily offer 20 more names.
That's what I love about the women's game: You never know what's going to happen next. With the Celtics, easy answer: a 3-point shot. And then a thousand more.
• It's not such a crime that the Warriors passed on Haliburton in the 2020 Draft, because eight other teams followed suit as the evening progressed. The disgrace falls on the Sacramento Kings, who once had Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox in their backcourt and let both of them depart. No, their numbers playing together weren't great, but with that kind of talent, show some patience.
• First thought on the Knicks' head coaching search: Jay Wright, a pillar of wisdom at Villanova and a chance to reunite with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Second thought: Becky Hammon. It's well past time for a woman to take an NBA head job, and the Las Vegas Aces' coach — who spent eight years as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio — couldn't be more ready. Then again: Forget both names. I wouldn't wish incompetent bully James Dolan, the Knicks' owner, on either one of them.
• When you know Boston is a great sports town: As Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy took note of Brunson missing what looked to be an easy layup at the worst possible time, 'It was a Frank Selvy moment that would have defeated a lot of teams.' That's it. No explanation. Just 63 short years ago.
• Caitlin Clark is brash and defiant, a window into her greatness as she fends off intense defensive scrutiny and every other obstacle in life. But she has to lay off the refs before she becomes the WNBA's version of the whining, petulant Doncic. Some words of advice from one of her biggest fans and a legend in women's soccer: 'You don't want to become the girl, the team, the coach who cries wolf all the time,' Megan Rapinoe said on Sue Bird's 'A Touch More' podcast. 'It's just constant, and to what end? Sometimes you just have to play through it and earn a little bit more respect. If you're constantly asking for fouls all the time, it's just annoying and I feel you get less fouls.'
• Final note: Congratulations to former Sporting Green writer Mark Fainaru-Wada, who recently returned from his alma mater, Northwestern, where he was inducted into the Hall of Achievement at the Medill School of Journalism, one of the most distinguished in the country. A Bay Area sportswriter all the way, from his days at the Marin Independent Journal and the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, he moved on to the San Francisco Examiner in 1997 and the Chronicle in 2000 before joining ESPN in 2007. Among his many achievements in investigative reporting: collaborating with the Chronicle's Lance Williams on 'Game of Shadows' (probing the BALCO steroids scandal) and with his brother, Steve, on 'League of Denial,' about the NFL's concussion issues.