Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

NBA playoff coverage.

- AP

The Warriors are four wins from their third consecutiv­e trip to the NBA Finals — and likely a third straight showdown with the Cavaliers.

With four All-Stars, including two MVPs, it’s not hard to see why.

The Warriors eliminated the Jazz in a sweep Monday night and are 8-0 in the postseason for the first time in franchise history. The Cavaliers, coincident­ally, also swept their first two opponents.

For the Warriors, the games mostly haven’t been close. Only one victory, Game 3 against the Trail Blazers in a first-round Western Conference series, was decided by fewer than 11 points, and the Warriors never trailed in three of the four semifinal games against the Jazz.

The trio of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green has been consistent­ly dominant, and the Warriors’ elite length and athleticis­m on defense have been stifling.

“We are mostly impressed with how we are playing our brand of basketball,” Green said. “We really imposed our will on the other team. That’s big. In the playoffs, you let a team get in a groove and it’s hard to win games.

“We have imposed our will all eight games. If you can do that, with the talent (and) experience we have, it will be tough to beat us.”

In the conference finals, the Warriors will face the winner between the Spurs and Rockets, who were tied at 2-2 entering Game 5 on Tuesday in San Antonio.

The Warriors are averaging a playoff-high 115.3 points per game, ahead of the Cavaliers’ 114.5, and allowing 98.8 points in the postseason to lead all teams still alive. The Warriors have a playoff-best 96.9 defensive rating.

The offense has come in waves. One second it’s Curry starring, the next Durant or Green. All-Star Klay Thompson has been in a bit of a slump but still scored 21 points in a 121-95 victory Monday night.

Even as games have gotten more physical, the Warriors have stayed strong on the ball and kept turnovers to a minimum. Interim coach Mike Brown thinks combining that with elite shooting and defense makes for a peerless combinatio­n.

“We would rather take a bad shot than make a hero play,” Brown said. “For the most part, they want to make the pass to somebody as opposed to making the shot. They get some sort of satisfacti­on out of it.”

The Warriors have been without coach Steve Kerr since Game 3 of the first round and haven’t missed a beat. He remains out after having a spinal cord leak procedure at Duke University on Friday and there is no timetable for his return, but Kerr and Brown speak regularly.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder raved about the culture Kerr has created.

“They demonstrat­e it in everything they do,” Snyder said. “They all believe in each other and are willing to sacrifice for one another.”

Said Jazz forward Gordon Hayward: “You have to be almost perfect every possession or they turn it into an 8-0 run, 9-0 run, 10-0 run. You can’t have mental lapses.”

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