Star trio leads Warriors to NBA Finals again

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Klay Thompson drained the 3pointers. Draymond Green anchored the defense and even chipped in on the offensive end for a change. Stephen Curry capped off an MVP performance.

The trio that led Golden State to so much success in recent years is whole again and and has the Warriors in position for another title after advancing to the NBA Finals with a 120-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

"Like I've said over and over again, I'm going to keep saying it: No one has proven that they can move us off that spot," Green said. "That's the mindset we come into this thing with. We understand what it takes to win a championship."

The triumvirate of Curry, Thompson and Green is in rarified air in NBA lore as the core of a team that has made it to six NBA Finals in an eight-year span. It's an accomplishment only the greatest groups have reached with Bill Russell's Celtics of the 1950s and '60s, Magic Johnson's Lakers in the 1980s and Michael Jordan's Bulls of the 1990s doing it.

Now the Warriors hope to add a fourth title to the ones they captured in 2015, '17 and '18 when the Finals start June 2 against either Boston or Miami. The Celtics lead the series 3-2 headed into Game 6 at home on Friday night.

"We're happy to be here, but it would help our legacy a lot if we completed the mission and won the whole thing," Thompson said. "We can be happy tonight, and we will be, I'll celebrate tonight. But tomorrow when this Game 6 comes on, I'm turning the page and I'm scouting because we want to finish this thing off the right way."

The last time the Warriors made it to the Finals they fell short, starting a two-year spiral filled with losing and injuries. Thompson tore his left ACL during a season-ending Game 6 loss in the 2019 NBA Finals.

Kevin Durant tore his Achilles' tendon earlier that series and then left for Brooklyn that summer, leading to the Warriors finishing an NBA-worst 15-50 in the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season.

Thompson then tore his right Achilles' tendon just before the start of the next season and the Warriors were unable to make it back to the playoffs, getting knocked out by Memphis in the play-in game.