Warriors get their revenge on Cavs
No perfect run, but Golden State atones for 2016’s collapse
That meeting in the Hamptons last July that delivered Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors as he left the Oklahoma City Thunder always felt like a move that would change the NBA.
That was confirmed on Monday when the Warriors finished off the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in three years but needed every one of the 35 points Durant averaged a night in the Finals to finish the deal and earn the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Durant was the difference, and it was no surprise when he was named the Finals MVP on Monday night.
The Warriors got it done in five games — Game 4 was their only loss in a 16-1 run through the post-season — but this series felt much closer than that.
In a Finals dominated by four players — Durant, Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving — Durant stood out, even in a span of five games in which James averaged a triple-double, something nobody in the history of the Finals has ever done.
LeBron piled in 41 points in a losing cause in the deciding game. Durant went off for 39, giving him 30 or more in each of the five games. He missed six shots of the 20 he took in Game 5.
“I couldn’t sleep for two days. I was anxious and jittery and I just wanted to leave it all out there,” Durant told ESPN’s Doris Burke minutes after his first championship was confirmed.
Curry was no slouch, but next to Durant he was merely support — and when your support is averaging almost 28 a night, you know you’re going to be in pretty good shape. Curry had 34 in the clincher.
On the other side of the ledger, James spent much of Game 5 as the only real threat, particularly with his wingman Irving hobbled by back pain that seemed to make just running a chore.
Irving, who led the Cavs in scoring in both games 3 and 4, had 26 through three quarters but did not score in the fourth. He was visibly labouring coming back up the court, allowing Curry a number of easy opportunities at the other end.
But with Irving hurting, JR Smith filled a lot of that void with a 25-point night on the strength of seven-of-eight shooting from behind the arc.
At the half, the Warriors had an 11-point lead on the strength of a 21-2 run midway through the quarter. For a while, it looked like that stretch might just continue and the Warriors would put this one away early until Smith, the streakiest of streaky shooters, got it going.
With the lead up to 17 and halftime fast approaching, Smith hit back-to-back threes on the Cavs’ final two possessions.
As has been the case all series, the two teams’ biggest stars were the biggest producers.
Durant and Curry combined for 73 points, with Durant just getting the better of his guard. On the Cavs’ side, the big numbers appeared beside the names of James and Irving, as expected.
The big gap was on the respective benches, where Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s substitutes were much more prolific, outscoring the Cavs secondary players 21-2 at the half.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that as of halftime, Kevin Love had not scored at all. Love picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and had to go to the bench and was just not the same player we saw earlier in the series. He finished the night with just six points, but he did contribute 10 rebounds.
The Warriors had their own foul trouble issues to deal with, as three starters — Thompson, Green and Durant — all finished the half with two.
Durant looked like he might get his third early in the second when he hit James on the head as the Cavs star drove for two, but the call never came and Durant avoided what would have been a seat on the bench for the remainder of the half.