For Just Second Time Since 2010, NBA Finals Won’t Include Warriors or Heat

No, not their season (though they did sort of blow that, too — but hey, their best player was injured). 

Instead, it was something much bigger than that. Namely, a Finals streak that had featured either the Heat or the Golden State Warriors every season, but one, since 2010, as relayed by Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

That’s 12 out of 13 years. But we can forget about making it 13 out of 14 after the Jimmy Butler-less Heat were eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

And you could even say that the Heat didn’t blow it nearly as much as the Warriors, who couldn’t even make the playoffs. They were instead blown out by the Sacramento Kings in a play-in game, after finishing with the 10th-best record out West.

Anyway, the only other time that the Warriors or Heat didn’t appear in the Finals (again, since 2010), the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns. That was in 2021.

Since 2010, the Warriors have appeared in the Finals in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Meanwhile, the Heat went in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and of course, last season, when they lost to the Denver Nuggets.

All that, and yet the Warriors and the Heat have never played each other in the Finals. Maybe next year, right?