J-Speaks: Warriors Win Back-to-Back Titles

For the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the 2017-18 season was about getting back to The Finals and winning it all for the second year in succession. Unlike two of the prior three seasons where they held up the Larry O’Brien trophy, they did not have the best record in the league or the Western Conference in the regular season. They began the 2018 NBA playoffs with their two-time league MVP on the shelf because of a knee injury and were taken to the limit in the Western Conference Finals by the No. 1 Seeded Houston Rockets. That did not stop the Warriors and in the end, the team whose playoff mantra over the course of this run has been “Strength in Numbers” got their chance to make history and led by the 2015 and 2016 MVP and the reigning Finals MVP the Warriors swept their way to their destination: dynasty. 

Behind the 37 points of Stephen Curry and the first career playoff triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists with three block shots by back-to-back Finals MVP Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors won Game 4 at the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night, to win the series 4-0 and earning their second straight title, and third in four seasons. 

“I know what happened last game where I was kind of pressing but nothing was really going. Trying to make a difference [in] other ways but tonight just trying to keep confidence in myself, knowing I can make shots and just appreciate the moment,” Curry said of his performance to ABC/ESPN’s Doris Burke after the win. “God is great to put me on this stage and no matter what happens win or lose I’m gonna have fun and play my game.”

This was the Warriors sixth title won overall and they became the first team in NBA history to with multiple sweeps in The Finals, with the first coming in 1975 under head coach Al Attles and Hall of Famers Rick Barry and Jamaal Wilkes. 

It was also the first sweep in The Finals since 2007 when a 22-year-old LeBron James in his first go-around with the Cavaliers was swept to the side by the mighty San Antonio Spurs in his first appearance in the championship round. 

This was also the second time the Warriors won a title on the Cavs home court, which they did back in 2015, their first of their three. 

The Warriors, who finished the 2018 postseason with a 16-5 mark took control of the game right from the outset leading by as many as 11 points early on and led after the first quarter 34-25. 

While the Cavs trailed by just nine points (61-52) at intermission, the Warriors as they have done for a great deal of these playoffs took control of the game after halftime outscoring the Cavs 25-13 in the third quarter and that was all she wrote.

Very different from what happened one year and one day ago in Game 4 as the Warriors with a chance to sweep the Cavs in the 2017 Finals were blown out of Quicken Loans Arena by the Cavs 137-116 to see their lead cut to 3-1. 

Curry who atoned for going 3 for 16 from the field on Wednesday night, including 1 for 10 from three-point range after a record setting nine triples in Game 2 on Sunday night was 12 for 27 shooting, including 7 for 15 from distance and 6 for 6 from the charity stripe with six boards, four assists, three steals and three blocks. 

“We used the experience from last year to our advantage,” Curry who set a Finals record for three-pointers made in four games with 22 said to Burke. “We knew that they were going to come out with a tough first punch and we answered it and ran right back at them. It set the whole tone for the whole game.” 

“They made some mini runs but over the course of 48 minutes our will took over. Unbelievable feeling to come here on a mission and get the job done.”

Curry and Durant’s great performances made up for the foul plagued Thompson who had just 10 points on 4 for 10 shooting, including 2 for 5 from three-point range with six rebounds in 28 minutes. 

The Warriors did get some offense from 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala who had 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench, going 3 for 6 from three-point territory, while fellow All-Star and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green had another solid all-around game with nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks. 

As good as the Warriors offense has been at times in the fourth tilt against the Cavs in The Finals, where their 51 made threes in the four games set a new record, they captured another Larry O’Brien trophy because of what they did at the defensive end and Game 4 was no different. 

The Cavs shot just 34.5 percent from the field in their own gym, Quicken Loans Arena and went a rough 8 for 27 from three-point range. The Warriors recorded 13 block shots and held their own in the paint finishing tied with the locals at 38 points. Held them to 10 fast break points and while they were out-rebounded 17-10 on the offensive glass, the Warriors finished even on the boards with the Cavs 56-56. 

"This was the first year where I felt I couldn't reach them and motivate them," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said to NBATV's Casey Stern, Grant Hill, Chris Webber and Charles Barkley after the win. 

"But I understood it because it's a long haul and once we got to the playoffs our defense picked up and we found our groove again."

Kerr added by saying about guarding a superior talent like James, "To be honest you just want to do the best you can with LeBron. You try to put pressure on him. You know he's going to get 30 [points], 10 [rebounds], and 10 [assists] probably and maybe even more like he did in Game 1. We just made LeBron work as hard as he could." 

One Cavalier that the Warriors took completely out of the series was Kyle Korver, who only scored a total of six points in the four games and was a combined 1 for 16 from the field, which included 0 for 8 from three-point range. 

Kerr said that he and the rest of the Warriors coaching staff from watching the Cavs on film that when Korver scores, especially from long distance, the Cavs are at their best offensively.  

For the Warriors, who have represented the West in The Finals the last four seasons in a row, this game and Finals was a stellar finish to a season which was full of ups-and-downs. 

They had a number of injuries to deal with, which is why they won 59 games in the regular season, after winning 67, 73 and 67 the prior four under head coach Steve Kerr. There were times when the team went through the motions and lost games they could have won. The Rockets as mentioned were the ones with the best record in the West by 6.5 games, which is why they ended up with home court in their Conference Finals tilt. In fact, they had the defending champs on the ropes in the series leading after five games 3-2. 

The Warriors did not panic and even they were as mentioned they were without their floor general in Curry to start these playoffs, they managed to get pass the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in the First-Round 4-1. 

Curry returned in the Semifinals and the Warriors took down the New Orleans Pelicans in five games as well. 

After capturing Game 1 of the Conference Finals in Houston’s house (119-106) on May 14, the Rockets won three of the next four games to have the champs on the ropes leading the series 3-2 and dominated them to the tune of a 39-22 mark after the first quarter of Game 6 on May 26. 

The Warriors did like they always do, chip away and eventually behind their stellar defense dominate, which they did to the Rockets, outscoring them 64-25 in the second half to win 115-86 to tie the series at 3-3. 

In Game 7 back at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX 48 hours later, the Warriors used the same second half script where they dominated the Rockets in the second half to scoring tune of 57-38 to win the game 101-92 and capturing the series 4-3. 

In the first three games of the fourth Finals tilt between the Warriors and the Cavs, the boys from Northeast Ohio played a stellar 42 minutes and gave themselves a chance to be really competitive in the series. 

Unfortunately, several blunders in those contests in the fourth period by the Cavs made all the difference and resulted in them getting swept. 

In Game 1’s 124-114 overtime loss, Cavs’ guard George Hill split a pair of free throws in the closing 04.7 seconds after being fouled by Klay Thompson. When veteran guard JR Smith got the offensive rebound on the second miss, instead of finding someone open or taking the shot himself in those final seconds he dribbled back to half court thinking the Cavs were ahead by one point. 

The cherry on the Sunday of the loss is prior to that sequence with the game still hanging in the balance in regulation, four-time league MVP of the Cavs LeBron James thought he drew a charge on Durant, the 2014 league MVP with 36.4 seconds remaining. 

Following a video review, which is allowed by the referees in the final two minutes of a game, the charge was changed to a blocking foul and Durant connected on two free throws to knot the game at 104. 

The Warriors took control of the game outscoring the Cavs in the extra five minutes 17-7 to win the game and take a 1-0 lead in The Finals. 

In Game 2, it was Curry who made the difference hitting a single-game record in The Finals of nine three-pointers in 17 tries, scoring 33 points in the 122-103 win, taking a 2-0 lead. He surpassed the eight three-pointers by future Hall of Famer Ray Allen back in a 2010 Finals game for the 2007 champion Boston Celtics against their arch rivals the Los Angeles Lakers. 

As good as Curry was on that night, he and fellow All-Star in Thompson were simply awful going a combined 7 for 27 from the field, including a dismal 3 for 15 from three-point range in Game 3 on Wednesday night for a combined 21 points. 

With Curry and Thompson unable to strike a match from the perimeter, it was Durant who was torching the Cavs on their home court scoring 24 of his game-high 43 points on the night with 13 rebounds and seven assists, going 15 for 23 from the field in leading the defending champs to a 110-102 win to take a commanding 3-0 lead in The Finals. 

Besides getting a great performance from Durant, some of the role players chipped in as well as rookie forward/center Jordan Bell had 10 points and six boards off the bench, while starting center JaVale McGee also scored 10. All-Star forward and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green had his usual stat sheet stuffing night with 10 points, nine boards and two steals. 

After being on the shelf since Game 3 of the Conference Finals, Iguodala had eight points off the bench in 22 minutes in his return from. 

In this pivotal swing game, it was the Warriors once again that made the plays in the clutch on the Cavs home court. 

With the score 96-97, Curry made just his second field goal of the night on a scoop shot in that put the Warriors ahead by one with under three minutes remaining. 

Iguodala then came up with a huge steal under the Cavs basket and after James buried a three-pointer to put the Cavs up 100-98, Curry matched him with a trifecta of his own to put the Warriors up 101-100. That was followed by a driving two-handed dunk by Iguodala. 

Moments later Durant hit a three-pointer from nearly the same exact spot last season that ended the game struck again with a nearly 33-footer that put the Warriors up 106-100 and that was all she wrote. 

With all the success that the Warriors have had the past four seasons, it can be easy for many outside of Oakland, CA to forget that there was a time when this run of success in the Bay Area was unthinkable. 

Other than making the playoffs three out of four seasons in 1991, 1992 and 1994, the Warriors had qualified for the postseason just once in a 17-year span from 1995-2012. 

It was in the back end of this time period around eight years back when then owner Chris Cohan sold the Warriors to Peter Guber of Mandalay Entertainment and his partner Joe Lacob for a then record $450 million. 

Mr. Lacob, the Warriors’ majority owner and chief executive officer (CEO) and Mr. Guber and the entire front office put their heart and soul into turning the franchise from a cellar dweller in the West into one that the passionate fanbase who filled Oracle Arena to watch the Warriors make history on Friday night. 

“Well I think honestly there’s no way to have this kind of expectation to do this well. It’s an amazing thing,” Mr. Lacob said to Burke during the trophy presentation. “Our general manage Bob Meyers put together an incredible team. Steve Kerr coaching. Rick Welts and these players. Unbelievable.” 

“They have been phenomenal. They deserve all the credit in the world. But the truth is you have to dream, and I will say we did dream this Peter and I. I can’t say we expected it, but we did dream it and you have to dream first.”

Guber, who made his mark in Hollywood making movies business before becoming co-owner of the Warriors put into perspective the rivalry between his team and the Cavs by saying to Burke it would make a worthy movie. That owner Dan Gilbert’s squad is a worthy adversary. 

“Every movie needs a worthy adversary and this was a great one,” Mr. Guber said. “This team [the Warriors], these people, this cast has been unbelievable. Totally deserving.” 

One person who is totally deserving of praise for steering this team to another title is Coach Kerr, who four years ago after another stint as an NBA color analyst for Turner Sports had the opportunity to be either coach of the New York Knicks or the Warriors. 

He chose the Warriors and he became a first-time head coach of a talented roster that he has help mold into champions. 

Along the way, like the team has had to battle through some of his own adversity having to deal with complications from back surgery he had three summers back, where he missed games and even playoff games a season ago. 

That adversity he went through and what the team went through this season in a lot of ways prepared them for this grind of facing challenges from within and from their respective opponents on the hardwood. That is how this team went from losing seven of their last 10 during the regular season to winning eight of their first 10 playoffs games in the first two rounds. Overcoming as mentioned earlier a 3-2 deficit in the Conference Finals to the Rockets and eventually a four-game sweep of the Cavs led by a four-time MVP who had one of the most stellar postseasons in recent memory. That is how you compile a mark of 63-20 which is what the Warriors are in the postseason in the four seasons under coach Kerr. 

“This was the hardest year we’ve had of the three championships by far, just the length of the journey” Kerr, who won individually his eighth title five of those as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs said to Burke. 

“But these guys are not only incredibly talented, but there selfless. They love each other and they play for each other, and you see the result.” 

A perfect example of a player that exemplifies that selflessness is Thompson. Curry and Durant very often get the headlines when the Warriors are talked about both in the press and on television, but the Warriors are not champions without the efforts on both ends of the floor of the former Washington State Cougar. 

In Game 6 of the 2016 Conference Finals at the Oklahoma City Thunder, the guy that Kerr called “A Machine” to Burke had 41 points on 14 for 31 shooting, including playoff-record 11 threes in 18 tries in helping the Warriors to a 108-101 win to tie the series at 3-3 and they won the West in seven games. 

Thompson was right on the mark for his team again in a win or go home Game 6 versus the Rockets with 35 points on 13 for 23 shooting, including 9 for 14 from distance to help the Warriors to a 115-86 win to keep their season alive and they took down the Rockets in Game 7 to get back to The Finals. 

When asked by Burke what he takes his satisfaction from when he does deliver when called upon, Thompson said it all about winning games and winning titles. 

“It’s so hard to do and to do it three out of four years is incredible,” Thompson who averaged 16.0 points, hitting 48 percent of his shots and 43 percent of his threes said. “Couldn’t have done it without the whole team. So, we’re blessed to have great chemistry and we’re not done. We’re just going to keep going and celebrate this tonight, and it feels so good. Get use to this.” 

Something that the viewing public whether in person or watching on television has gotten used to is Durant winning Finals MVP and as much joy he and pride he displayed on when he won it in 2017, he took as much joy and pride in joining future Hall of Famers in James and Kobe Bryant; Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in NBA history to win the Bill Russell Award for Finals MVP in back-to-back years. 

On top of that it was not just Durant’s ability to put the ball in the hoop that has been on display the last two Finals. His ability to rebound, pass to open teammates and defend that has really taken off and as a result has gotten to be in the same sentence as some of the greats to ever grace the professional hardwood and like those greats, shows what hard work, dedication, and commitment to being great can do. That is how Durant was able to be in a position to author averages of 28.8 points, 10.8 boards and 7.5 assists on 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range in the 2018 Finals

“This is about the journey all season,” Durant, who scored under 25-plus points for the first time in his Finals career of 14 games said to Burke about what it took to reach this point. “Getting up every day. Going to go to work every day with these guys. It’s amazing.” 

“The environment is incredible. It’s good for you to be around guys like this. It helps you become a better basketball player and a better man. It’s the journey that better than the destination. I’m happy that I’m a part of this group.”

That group besides the All-Star “Core Four” of Durant, Curry, Thompson, and Green includes the previously mentioned Iguodala, McGee, Bell, David West, Kevon Looney, Shaun Livingston, Quinn Cook, Patrick McCaw, and Nick Young. 

To bring the what the supporting cast has been for the Warriors into context, in the early part of McGee and Young’s careers when they were with the Washington Wizards, they were talented players who had potential, but their immaturity early on is what held them back from really being great. In their time with the Warriors, they have been solid complimentary players and not only have they been great on the floor but have displayed that maturity and focus to be difference makers instead of a hinderance. 

Cook out of Duke University and helped lead them to the 2015 NCAA title, had his struggles finding his place in the NBA going from being on ironically enough the Cavs' training camp roster three seasons back to having cups of coffee with the Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks before ending up in the NBA's G-League. 

Back in the fall, the undrafted guard signed a two-way contract with the Warriors, where he would spend some of this season with them and the other part with their G-League affiliate the Santa Cruz Warriors. When Curry got injured in the team's 110-107 win versus the Spurs on Mar. 8, Cook stepped in and played well with averages of 13.2 and 14.3 points over the final two months of the regular season, shooting 49.0 and 50.0 percent from the floor and 40.4 and 51.7 percent from three-point range respectably.  

Beyond just filling a role, he earned the respect of Durant, who has become his closet friend on the team and of Curry. 

"It's surreal just to be with this organization," Cook said. "I grew up watching every Final I can remember. "To be a part of it is a dream come true." 

"I had to reflect on myself. Just get emotional. Just didn't want to get to The Finals. You want to win The Finals. Something that you've always dreamed about." 

I am sure that in his wild he could have never imagine a two-time league MVP looking into a camera and saying after his team won their second straight title and having champagne flow all over the locker room, "When he first showed up he knew he belong and he's proven that. Now he can celebrate as a champ baby. Make sure when you see Quinn Cook from now on you call him champ."

The other thing that makes all the hard work that Durant, who became just the third player in franchise history to record a triple-double in a Finals game has put in even sweeter to be a champion in back-to-back years is he and his teammates have three out of four times defeated a player that the former Thunder star has expressed incredible respect and admiration for in James, who as equally great player, person, champion, and competitor who never backs down and will fight you to his last breath on the hardwood. 

Durant said that going against him with the stakes that high is fun and that it brought the best out of him and the best out of the Warriors. 

The question now for the back-to-back NBA champion and four-time defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors is can they win three in a row? 

They will have a serious chance to do so in 2018-19 because of their All-Star “Core Four” of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. 

On top of that they have a front office and a coaching staff that believes in getting better and not resting on their laurels. As good as it feels to win back-to-back titles and three in the past four seasons, having more is a lot better. 

They Golden State Warriors from top to bottom are willing to put in the work to be great and if the rest of the NBA does not elevate their game like the Rockets did in the summer of 2017, there could be more Larry O’Brien trophies on the way to the Bay Area in the years to come. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of the Team by Team section of the Sporting News “Official 2006-07 NBA Guide;” 5/26/18 11:30 p.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 6/8/18 NBA news from ESPN Bottom Line new crawl; 6/8/18 9 p.m. Game 4 2018 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors versus Cleveland Cavaliers, presented by YouTube TV on ABC with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Doris Burke; 6/8/18 11:45 p.m. presentation of NBATV's "Live at The Finals Postgame," presented by YouTube TV with Casey Stern, Grant Hill, Chris Webber, and Charles Barkley; 6/9/18 NBATV news crawl; 6/9/18 6:30 p.m. edition of "NBA: Inside Stuff," with Grant Hill and Kristen Ledlow; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/gs/golden-state warriors; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2566745/quinn-cook; www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2011/kyle-korver; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell_NBA_Finals_Most_Valuable_Player_Award; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lacob; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Guber; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Golden_State_Warriors_seasons; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Warriors.