DUBS DYNASTY: WARRIORS SWEEP CAVSONKD CONSISTENCY
Warriors crush Cavaliers to sweep their way to title and force LeBron James to an offseason of introspection
CLEVELAND— There was a sense of the inevitable in the air at Quicken Loans Arena. Even when LeBron James pumped up the roar with a slam dunk that put his team up in the second quarter, there was a palpable feeling that everything was just a prelude to a coronation.
And it was. The Golden State Warriors took that early first punch and rolled with it before unleashing a counter of their own that slowly brought James and the Cleveland Cavaliers down.
The third time was more than just the charm. It was perfection.
And it may also have been the impetus that drives James out of Ohio once again as the Warriors’ sweep of the Cavs in the NBA Finals, capped by Friday’s 108-85 romp in Game 4, will force the planet’s best player to reexamine whether his best chances for another title lies at home.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to come here with a mission and get the job done,” said Golden State star Steph Curry after punching in 37 points, 20 in the first half. “They made some mini-runs, but over the course of 48 minutes our will took over.”
“We used the experience last year to our advantage,” Curry added. “We knew they were going to come out with a tough first punch and we answered it and ran right back at them, set the tone for the whole game.”
And as quickly as the Finals was over, the narrative changed—from whether or not the Cavaliers could book a flight back to Oakland for Game 5 to whether or not they have enough to convince James to stay.
James had his least productive outing of the series, recording 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in his eighth consecutive trip to the Finals. He revealed after the game that he had been playing through a significant hand injury suffered after Game 1.
“What happened? Self-inflicted, post-game after Game 1. Very emotional,” James said. “I let the emotions get the best of me. Pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand, so that’s what it is.”
But it didn’t seem like a healthy hand could have delayed the inevitable. Cleveland had the best player on the planet in their roster but time and again in this series, Golden State found strength in numbers.
It was a message scrawled, not even subtly, for James to read: He’ll need more than his superhuman efforts to hurdle these Warriors. And the Cavs have little elbow room in the offseason to carve up their roster and reshape it into one that will have ample firepower to deal with the Warriors.
Beyond Curry’s explosion, there was Kevin Durant—named Finals MVP after the tournament. The top gun of the Golden State juggernaut had a triple double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. In Game 3, he buried the dagger that doused a Cleveland rally—and the Cavs hopes for bouncing back into the series—and finished with 43 points.
And he wasn’t done yet. Even as he beat Curry for the Finals MVPaward, Durant made it clear that the honor didn’t matter in the scheme of things.
“We won two championships. We just won back-toback,” said Durant. “I don’t think anybody’s even worried about that stuff.”
“Steph went out and recruited KD with this in mind: Winning titles,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I was there in the Hamptons (at the Durant recruiting session) when we had that discussion. I don’t remember anybody asking who is going to win MVP in the Finals. It was all about let’s win championships together, and that’s what this is about. You guys can write about MVP. Wedon’t care.” Beyond both former league MVPs, the Warriors also have Klay Thompson, who scored 10 points as the Warriors peeled away in the third period, and Draymond Green, who had nine points, nine assists and three blocks. The glut of talent is what James, 33, will ponder on as he figures out how—and where—the next chapter of his career will be written.
“I have no idea at this point,” James said. “Sitting down and considering everything, my family is a huge part of whatever I’ll decide to do in my career, and it will continue to be that. So I don’t have an answer for you right now.”
Golden State now has six alltime championships, tying Chicago for the third-most in NBA history behind Boston (17) and the Los Angeles Lakers (16). But winning their third crown in four seasons puts them in the same league as the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls—teams who have made dynastic runs in the NBA.
Weknew they were going to come out with a tough first punch and we answered it and ran right back at them STEPH CURRY Golden State Warriors