Bruce Jenkins:
Warriors refuse to let up on the accelerator.
With incessant complaints of “boring” and “get on with it” filling the air around the country, Kevin Durant took some heat on social media for a comment he made after Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. “If you don’t like it,” he said, bluntly, “don’t watch it.”
Durant apologized for the remark Monday on ESPN, but he needn’t have bothered. It was the stone-cold truth. It’s also undeniable that for any fan of pure basketball, of legendary athletes playing together as one, it would be foolish to turn away. Monday night’s clincher of a fourgame sweep, 129-115 over the Spurs, was a shining example.
As compelling as the NBA playoffs can be, teams inevitably unleash a stinker here and there. Recently, we’ve seen James Harden dis-
appear in his biggest game of the year, LeBron James stunningly passive in Cleveland’s Sunday night loss to the Celtics, and the usual assortment of L.A. Clippers disasters. The mighty Lakers got blown out so badly (148-114) by the Celtics in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals, the series was deemed over (L.A. prevailed.)
Every team has a regrettable, scattershot performance here and there. Every team turns up almost unrecognizable for a game or two. Except the Warriors. Take the most motivated, relentless group of players in the league, forever stung by losing last year’s Finals to Cleveland, and then add Durant, more motivated than any of them. It’s a little bit scary, sort of like a monopolistic corporation running roughshod over the landscape, but on the basketball court, the Warriors craft a priceless vision.
Durant still hasn’t gotten over coming up short with Oklahoma City in his first Finals, against James’ Miami Heat in 2012. Durant still can’t believe the Thunder had a 3-1 lead against the Warriors in last year’s Western Conference finals, only to watch it slip away. And he’s under constant scrutiny around the NBA for leaving Oklahoma City for Oakland, offering him the best chance at a championship.
He’s the coolest of the cool, rising above the fray in so many ways, but the man is wildly motivated. Because of Durant, and Draymond Green and really the entire team, you always get the real Warriors. No cheap imitations. No circumstances where the media has to grill someone like Harden, or even the great LeBron, about what the hell happened. Great players recover, but for the Warriors, there’s no bounce-back. Only a quest for a 16-0 postseason — something they want, badly, but hardly a necessity or anything to dwell upon in public.
With just 2:54 left in Monday night’s game, and the Warriors leading by 16, Durant and Stephen Curry remained on the floor as the teams emerged from a timeout. They weren’t around long, but it was a classic example of Golden State’s take-no-prisoners approach. Weird things can happen in the NBA, and you wouldn’t be seeing any of them here.
Along the way, Durant and Curry might have staged their most impressive two-man show. Curry made one of the great shots of the season in the first quarter, making it appear so effortless, it didn’t cause much of a stir. Driving hard and bumped by Jonathon Simmons, Curry was perched on one leg and about to hit the floor when he tossed up a heavy-spinning bank shot. For most players, they’re happy if they even draw iron. This one kissed the glass and dropped through the net, as if floated airborne on an empty floor in practice.
Mark Jackson, the former Warriors head coach now with ESPN, couldn’t believe it. “You can’t teach that,” he said.
Motivated? With the game well in hand, the Spurs’ Dejounte Murray made a steal and headed for what figured to be an easy layup. Undaunted, Durant chased him down and blocked the shot not once but twice — once with each hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Jackson said.
As well as Kawhi Leonard played in the first half of Game 1, you eventually had to wonder if he could have prevented this sweep in full health. Manu Ginobili was a prince, dignified in every manner as he played perhaps his last game on the Spurs’ floor, but the team’s other main men, notably LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills, shrank to the occasion. They had to realize the inevitability of it all, but then again, it comes back to the Warriors. “Nothing’s inevitable,” Green has said, remembering that 3-1 lead in the Cleveland series.
And now, with the Cavaliers looming once again on the Finals horizon, the national opinion will take a dramatic shift. It’s unanimous now: No matter who or where you are, it’s time to start watching.