Cavaliers trying to block Warriors’ bid for dynasty
CLEVELAND — A decade ago, LeBron James' team was swept off the floor at Quicken Loans Arena in the NBA Finals by a dynasty in full bloom.
The Cavaliers’ superstar, 10 years wiser and three championship rings richer, could endure the same humbling fate today.
James made three trips to the Finals, representing two franchises, against the San Antonio Spurs, the club who beat his Cavaliers in 2007. It appears he will spend the autumn of his career fighting for league supremacy against the Golden State Warriors, who are on the verge of their second title in three years at the expense of James.
Golden State can complete the NBA’s first 16-0 postseason with a win in Game 4.
“Well, I think it's just part of my calling to just go against teams in the midst of a dynasty,” James said Thursday. “(Golden State) has been the best team in our league the last three years. They won a championship, and last year it was the greatest regular-season team we had played, probably one of the best postseason teams that everybody's ever seen as well, but we were just able to overcome that. And they're playing like one of the best teams once again.”
The Cavaliers are a defending champion, one that compiled a 12-1 playoff record on the way to winning the Eastern Conference for a third consecutive season. Yet they have proved no match for the Warriors, whose core players of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are either entering or in their primes.
Golden State is athletic and selfless, a team that plays tenacious defense and moves the ball like none other on the offensive end. After the Warriors rallied for a last-minute 118-113 win Wednesday, James offered the type of praise usually reserved for a series that’s over. Some would say it already is.
“It’s probably the most firepower I’ve played (against) in my career,” James said after his 39-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist effort was wasted in defeat.
No NBA team has rallied from a 3-0 playoff series deficit, let alone against an opponent that has won 30 of its past 31 games dating to the regular season. It’s only natural some already are looking toward next season and beyond. James, who’s chasing Michael Jordan’s six NBA titles, can opt out of his contract at the end of the 2017-18 season. Rumors of a free-agent move to Los Angeles already are circulating.
James, 32, offered no timetable for retirement Thursday before adding, “I want to compete for championships every year, and so we’ll see what happens.”
The relative weakness of the Eastern Conference gives James and the Cavaliers a legitimate shot at making a fourth consecutive Finals appearance. But can they retool their roster enough to threaten the Warriors? Golden State has a lineup that could equal the Spurs’ run of four championships with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
“There have been times throughout my career where I just played teams that were just in the midst of something that can last for a long time,” James said. “And, obviously (Golden State) is built to be able to do that with the talent that they have.”