Durant is the difference
In 1st Finals since ’12, All-Star plays big in Game 1 win
OAKLAND, Calif. — LeBron James had a simple explanation for what stood out in Game 1 of the NBA Finals: KD.
With a motivated Kevin Durant playing some of the best basketball of his career and taking pressure off Stephen Curry, the Warriors dominated the Cavaliers 113-91 in Game 1 on Thursday night and showed that Cavaliers-Warriors III might not look anything like the previous showdowns.
“You take one of the best teams ever assembled and then in the offseason you add a high-powered offensive talent like that and a great basketball IQ like that, that’s what stands out,” James said. “I mean, it’s no ifs, ands or buts. We’ve got to figure out how to combat that, which is going to be a tough challenge for us.”
Durant finished with 38 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, didn’t commit a single turnover and spent much of the night guarding James on the defensive end in an impressive return to the finals stage five years after his only previous trip with the Thunder.
Durant lost to James and the Heat in five games in 2012, then James and the Cavaliers knocked off the 73-win Warriors last June in a seven-game thriller.
But with Durant added to a mix that includes fellow All-Stars Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, this year’s Warriors proved to be too tough for James and the Cavaliers to handle in Game 1.
“He can just go get a bucket,” Green said of Durant. “That’s one of the things that we need — a guy who can go get a bucket (or) get to the foul line. That’s huge for us.
“You are talking one of the best players in the game. Thirty-eight, eight, eight (and) zero turnovers? We’re real tough to beat when he’s doing that.”
Durant played well in his first finals trip but didn’t have the help he has now with two-time MVP Curry, one of the league’s best two-way players in Thompson and a do-it-all demon such as Green.
With his big output in Game 1, Durant joined Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to score at least 25 points in each of his first six finals games.
“That’s what you dream about as a kid: to play at the highest level,” Durant said. “I wouldn’t do my teammates any good if I wasn’t just enjoying the moment.”
Durant provided a conundrum for the Cavaliers defense. There were a handful of times more focus was placed on Curry and the 3-point shooters, but Durant made the Cavaliers pay with six first-half dunks. His presence also forced James to work much harder on the defensive end.
“Kevin’s a competitor,” Green said. “Obviously being that he’s guarding LeBron, he’s taking that challenge on. And I expect nothing less out of him, being the competitor that he is.”