WARRIORS SWEEP TO ANOTHER TITLE
Dubs use their third-quarter dominance once again for third NBA title in four years
Magic was there when it was needed and — don’t be fooled — it was needed
There are champions who hold the trophy aloft, grab the microphone at the victory parade and take gleeful aim at all those “socalled experts who never gave us a chance.”
This is not one of those stories.
The Warriors were supposed to do this all along. And when they delivered one last dose of routine dominance Friday night, polishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 to complete an NBA Finals sweep, it was if someone had yelled “spoiler alert!” way back on opening night. Don’t be fooled.
This was the most difficult “easy” championship of the Warriors dynasty.
“I don’t think anybody could have guessed or predicted the ups and downs and the roller coaster we’ve been on,’’ Stephen Curry said a day before delivering 37 points in the clincher.
With no critics to silence Friday night, the Warriors quieted an entire arena. They took such a commanding lead early the second half that 20,562 fans found themselves mostly just milling around until they could say goodbye to LeBron James. (He exited to a huge ovation with 4:03 to play, heading for impending free agency).
The Warriors, meanwhile, started celebrating early. They have this routine down by now. In the fourth quarter, Curry wrapped a loving arm around Draymond Green and told him how much he meant to him. Curry also found Steve Kerr for a long embrace, a nod to a coach who still battles against the effects of a botched
back surgery.
When it was over, and when they ushered the Larry O’Brien Trophy onto the court for the formal presentation, the first player to kiss it was Kevin Durant, the Finals MVP for the second straight season. He clinched the award with a triple-double in Game 4: 18 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds.
Yes, this happy ending was long scripted — in ink. In a preseason survey of ESPN writers, 23 out of 23 picked the Warriors to win it all. The opening odds from Las Vegas listed them as laughable favorites. With 5-to-8 opening odds, a $100 bet would net a $62.50 payout.
There are those who that think the Warriors stacked the deck — adding Durant to an already supreme roster. Kerr acknowledged his bounty after Game 4 after saluting the tremendous job Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue did over the course of the season.
“We had more talent than they did,’’ Kerr said. “And talent wins in this league.”
But to the Warriors, this long journey felt suspiciously like work.
“I think it’s been our most inconsistent season. It’s been our most difficult season,’’ Kerr said a day before the decisive Game 4. “But our guys sense the finish line, and they turned it on right from the beginning of the playoffs.”
Significant injuries to Curry (ankle), Durant (ribs) and Klay Thompson (fractured thumb) meant their regular season never took flight.
There were also stretches of lethargic play, when the Warriors looked mired in championship hangover.
“Absolutely there were doubts,’’ Kerr said after Game 4.
Free-agent acquisitions Omri Casspi and Nick Young, expected to bolster the Strength in Numbers tradition, instead added mostly zero. Opening night center Zaza Pachulia faded into irrelevance by the playoffs, leaving Kerr to continually tinker with new formulas even throughout the playoffs.
For the first time in this dynasty, the Warriors entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed — which meant testing their resolve with a Game 7 on the road. They beat Houston for the Western Conference title, but only after overcoming a 15-point deficit.
But whenever it mattered, whenever they’d been pushed hard enough, the Warriors summoned that basketball sorcery that had been there all along.
It was on display for all of the Finals, when the Warriors found their way back to their breathtaking best.
Curry unleashed his wondrous shooting with a Finals record nine 3-pointers in Game 2. Durant had a game for the ages with 43 points in Game 3, including a dagger of a 30-footer the final minute.
Thompson shook off a scary-looking knee injury in Game 1 and never missed a beat. Draymond Green played as if he’d been saving his stifling defensive intensity for this particular week of early June. Champions, at last. Champions, of course. “They move at such a pace, and they have five guys on the floor that can dribble pass and shoot,’’ Lue marveled when it was over. “So if you make a mistake, they’re going to make you pay, and that’s the beauty of their team.”
The Warriors went 5824 during the regular season, great by basketball standards but ho-hum for Golden State. In the previous three years, they’d rattled off victory totals of 67, 73 and 67.
They had their hurdles in the postseason, too. Curry missed six playoff games with a left MCL sprain. Andre Iguodala, invaluable for his wisdom and court presence, missed six games against the Rockets and Cavs with a bone bruise on his left leg.
But none of that mattered by Friday night when the Warriors beat the Cavaliers to complete their mission. That’s three titles in four years, enough to earn the admiration of a notable adversary.
“At the end of the day, you can never count out a champion, no matter what’s going on in the course of their season,’’ LeBron James said Thursday. “It’s impossible to do that, because they’re built from a different cloth, and I know that first hand.”