KD’S GOLDEN CROWN Durant leads star lineup to Warriors’ 2nd title in 3 years
OAKLAND, Calif. — It was Andre Iguodala soaring through the air for dunks.
It was Stephen Curry leaning back for a jumper, getting fouled, then lying on the floor like a starfish as his teammate beat his chest in celebration.
It was Draymond Green stealing the ball.
It was Kevin Durant’s dribble speeding up as he prepared to sink yet another crushing 3-pointer.
It was LeBron James walking up the court, down 11 points with 50 seconds left, aware of the unavoidable truth.
This Game 5 was not last year’s Game 5. This time the Warriors absolutely were not going to give it up — Durant would not let it slip away.
Their mission is complete. On Monday night this superteam that is changing basketball beat the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 and won the NBA Finals.
The win capped a near-perfect postseason and the culmination of a plan to recover from the embarrassment of one year ago. They are champions for the second time in three years, a year after finishing second.
Durant scored 39 points to win his first championship, Curry finished with 34 points and Iguodala had 20.
James led the Cavaliers with 41 while Kyrie Irving added 26 and JR Smith added 25.
As the Finals expired in 2016, no confetti fell in Oracle Arena. The Cavaliers completed an improbable comeback to win a series after being down 3-1. No team had ever done that in the NBA Finals before.
The Warriors tried to match