The 2003 Conference Finals are here, and the three-time champion Celtics are still in pursuit of a record fourth straight title. But before they can get there, they have to survive the Bucks.
On the other side, the Spurs and Trail Blazers are battling for the right to represent the West. Who will make it to the Finals, and can anyone finally stop Boston's incredible run?
Welcome to Rewritten Rings, an alternate NBA history created through NBA 2K26's NBA Eras mode. The journey begins with the 1983-84 season, and every season builds on the one before it, creating a completely different NBA history along the way.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant do not enter the league until the mid-2000s, fundamentally changing the landscape of the NBA before their arrival.
There are no predetermined outcomes or custom rules designed to force specific results. The simulation determines what happens, while I document the seasons, follow the careers of the players and franchises, and analyze the unexpected history that unfolds. And after nearly two decades of watching this universe develop, some of the results still manage to surprise me.
We start with the Celtics, who are up against a familiar foe. Back in 2000 and 2001, the Celtics defeated Penny Hardaway’s Bucks, and despite being a 7 seed, here they are again. It could have very well been a fourth straight matchup if Penny hadn’t been out last year with an injury.
Game 1 goes to the champs by 18, followed by a 22-point victory as they head to Milwaukee. For the Bucks, they head home not only down 0-2, but down another starter.
Dee Brown was already out to start this series and continued to miss games, but now it was Corey Maggette who suffered a season-ending injury in Boston. What would this mean for the rest of the series?
Another game, another blowout performance from the champs, as they continued to dominate, this time winning by 24. Game 4 would be the worst of all for the Bucks, as they were swept after losing by 30 in the final game.
Chris Webber finished with 26 and 8 as the Celtics made it look easy on their way to a fourth straight Finals. The question now was whether they could go for a fourth straight title, or if one of the finalists in the West could finally stop them.
For Penny and the Bucks, it was a third straight series loss to these Celtics. It makes me think of the real-life Pistons with Isiah Thomas losing to the Celtics year after year. They eventually got over the hump. Can these Bucks eventually do the same?
Out West, we had the 2 seed Portland Trail Blazers up against the 4 seed San Antonio Spurs. Jason Kidd had a Finals run last year with the Utah Jazz and was now four wins away from helping the Blazers get there, something the franchise had only accomplished once before in our 20-year sim, back in 1997.
The Spurs had never been to the NBA Finals in our sim. The closest they had come was in 1996 and 1998, when they reached the West Finals with Rockets champion Karl Malone. Now they were once again just four wins away.
Game 1 looked to be going the Blazers’ way. They were up five with 1:43 to go, but the Spurs then went on a 7-0 run to take the lead. It started with a bucket from Glenn Robinson and five straight points from Jason Terry, capped off with a 3.
The Spurs left 23 seconds on the clock, and Kidd would respond. Ten seconds later, he nailed a 3, and the Blazers were back up. Similarly to what happened with the Rockets and Tim Thomas, the Spurs turned to a lesser-known player.
Blue Edwards had been the starting shooting guard for the Spurs for most of the season, but in the playoffs, Ricky Davis was playing better and started to get more starts. Terry found Davis for a late 3, and the Spurs stole Game 1, as Davis continued to prove his worth.
Game 2 was another tightly contested game, as the Spurs were up only two with 1:35 left. Last game it was Davis’ heroic shot at the end. Now it was former Blazer Stacey King who delivered with two clutch buckets, increasing the lead to six.
The Spurs ended up winning by 12 and headed home up 2-0. But in San Antonio, it was like a light turned on for the Blazers. They won on the road by 19, and through the first three games, the home team was 0-3.
Game 4 was closer, but the Blazers were the ones leading by five with only 51 seconds to go. Steve Francis knocked down a 3, and that would do it. The Blazers won by seven, as the home team had yet to win in this series.
Game 5 in Portland would continue that trend, as the Spurs won by 13 and were now just one win away from making history. They had never been this close to making the Finals in their entire history.
But at home, they couldn’t get it done. They lost in a blowout by 19, and through the first six games of this series, the road team had won them all. I expected that trend to continue, as the Spurs had just beaten the #1 seed Rockets on the road in Game 7.
One thing I forgot: the Blazers had already played two Game 7s at home in these playoffs, and they won both. Game 7 in Portland against the Spurs would be no different, as they won by 16.
Kidd finished with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists, and 3 steals as the Blazers survived one of the strangest series we’ve seen in our sim.
The Blazers head to only their second-ever Finals in our universe, while the Spurs once again come up short. The question now is, can they beat the reigning three-time champion Celtics, who seem like they are destined to win four in a row?
The Finals Are Next!
For the second year in a row, Jason Kidd was in the Finals, and for the second year in a row, he was facing the Celtics. Last year, his Jazz lost in five. He signed as a free agent with Portland, and now it was his Blazers standing in the way of history.
Speaking of history, John Salmons became the first-ever Rookie of the Year to make it all the way to the NBA Finals in his rookie season. His reward? The Boston Celtics and reigning MVP Kevin Garnett.
The Celtics took Game 1 by 15, and they followed it up with a 27-point victory. Now the series headed out West. Could the Blazers get back into it, or had the Celtics already opened the wound too much for the Blazers to stop the bleeding?
The Celtics won Game 3 by nine and were now one win away from history. Game 4 would see much of the same, as the Celtics were up 10 late. After Reaf LaFrentz got an offensive putback to cut it to eight, Paul Pierce hit a 3 with 42 seconds left to seal it.
Pierce finished with 28 points, along with a pair of 7s in rebounds and assists, but it was Manu Ginobili who won Finals MVP, averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists.
If you watched my YouTube video, I hardly even mentioned Ginobili during the four games. So I’m not sure if he was deserving of the award. What do you think?
For the Celtics, they are now the first team ever in our 20-year sim to four-peat, joining only the Bill Russell Celtics of the 1960s as teams to win at least four championships in a row. In reality, no team has won more than three straight titles other than Russell’s Celtics.
Now the question becomes: Can they go for five, six, seven, or even eight and match Russell’s Celtics?
As for Jason Kidd, he has now lost to the Celtics two years in a row, while the Blazers have been to two Finals in our sim and have yet to win a game. Isiah Thomas and the Blazers were swept by Shaq and the Magic in 1997.
And now, we move on to the 2003-04 season.
The King arrives.
What kind of impact will LeBron James have on the league in Year 1? And with Kobe and MJ set to follow in the next two seasons, the future of Rewritten Rings is about to get even more interesting.
Stay tuned!
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