SAN FRANCISCO: A resurgent Golden State Warriors are bidding to reclaim their throne at basketball's summit against a Boston Celtics team chasing history when the NBA Finals tip-off on Thursday (Friday in Manila).After a gruelling regular season and a roller coaster playoff campaign, Golden State and Boston will open their best-of-seven finals showdown on Thursday in what has all the makings of a classic between two evenly matched teams.

Two years ago, the once-mighty Warriors — the dominant NBA franchise of the past decade — appeared to be facing up to the end of an era.