Game 7 was business as usual for these Warriors

HOUSTON >> They did it again.

They played the same game they’ve played countless times this season.

Only this time, they weren’t playing the Orlando Magic in January, they were playing the biggest game of the last two years — Game 7 of the Western Conference finals and they were on the road.

If ever there was a time to not mess around — to not spot their opponent a 15-point lead — Monday’s contest was it.

Yet the Warriors did just

that. And then they won the game anyway — in spectacular fashion, too.

How can something be so predictable be so stunning?

The Warriors’ 101-92 Game 7 win was a perfect homage to this team’s peculiar 2017-18 season, which will now include another showdown with LeBron James Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, which start Thursday.

Like so many performances this season, the

Warriors started the game with lazy defense and disjointed, sloppy, energyfree offense against a team playing with heart, hunger, and fire. The Rockets pulled down 11 offensive rebounds in the first half of Monday’s game to pair with 10 Warriors turnovers.

And like so many of the Warriors’ games this season, Golden State was lucky to head into the locker room down only 11.

“I was thinking about resigning,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I didn’t recognize the group we were seeing.”

“It was really one of the most bizarre first halves of basketball we’ve played since I’ve been here. We were so scattered, every part of the gameplan went out the window in the first 55 seconds, basically — we committed four fouls in the first 55 seconds when rule No.1 was ‘don’t commit silly fouls.’”

And then, in the third quarter, an explosion: a symphony of defensive activity and offensive synchronization that buried their opponent and erased any doubt Golden State might have sowed in the first half.

So what changed Monday?

The answer was the same as it was in those perfunctory regular season games: the talent took over.

Stephen Curry — who is still the only player to make seven 3-pointers in a Game 7 (he also did it in 2016’s Western Conference finals) — scored 19 points in the second half, 14 coming in a third quarter the Warriors won 33-15.

Curry coming through in the third quarter? How many times have we seen that this season?

Instead of panicking — instead of succumbing to the weight of the moment and the daunting challenge ahead of them — Golden State tapped into their experience. They knew the script — they trusted the script — and they knew they had what it took to come back in the biggest game of the year.

It also helped that the shorthanded Rockets — playing without Chris Paul — were completely exhausted with no chance of serious rest coming in the second half.

The Rockets missed 27 straight 3-pointers between the second and fourth quarters — tired legs resulting in clanging rims and the transition opportunities for the Warriors. Even though Houston was getting open looks, the Rockets kept missing and the Warriors, in turn, kept pushing the

ball the other way and scoring.

Even so, the Warriors were still somewhat stunned — yes, stunned — by the turnaround. They knew it was coming, they felt it coming, and yet no one expected the turnaround could happen that fast.

This team — for better and for worse — is something else.

No one epitomized the Warriors’ first to second half swing like Kevin Durant. He was woeful in the first, lost on defense and pressing in tangible ways on offense. The moment — the circumstance — looked too big for one of the best scorers in the history of the NBA. It was a downright embarrassing performance — one that could have been directly tied to his legacy had it continued.

It didn’t. Durant was so sensational in the second half, scoring 21 points and playing excellent defense, that it almost feels inappropriate to bring up his first-half performance. He rendered it — as poor as it was — irrelevant.

Livingston said he believed that Durant coming through in a moment like Monday’s was an important milestone in the 29-year-old’s career. The man is a surefire Hall of Famer and a reigning NBA Champion, but he needed to break through in the second half for his own personal development — if for no other reason than to convince himself that he had he could.

“Character builder,” Livingston said of Durant’s performance. “For him, it was about staying with it. Guys like Andre (Iguodala), Steph, they know, the levee — the dam — is going to break. But you gotta keep your spirit right. If you’re emotional and you’re tense, you’re upset because things aren’t going your way, then it’s going to continue to go bad.”

“It tests you, it tests your emotion, your energy, your spirit. We all know he’s one of the greatest basketball players of all time in terms of skill, but there’s so much more to the game in that moment… I’m glad he stayed with it.”

Livingston was hardly alone in that sentiment.

If Livingston was right — if Durant needed a performance like Monday’s to take the next step in his career (I was unaware there were other steps) — the Warriors should head into the Finals with confidence to spare.

And perhaps there — with a championship literally on the line — they won’t mess around the way they did in the first 99 games of the season. Maybe they’ll leave no doubt against the Cavs.

Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.