A year after the Cleveland Cavilers shocked the sports world by winning the NBA Finals after trailing by a 3-1 margin, the Warriors won their second NBA championship in three years after defeating the Cavs 129-120 on Monday.
The Warriors, who beat Cleveland in the 2015 Finals only to lose to them past year after squandering a 3-1 series lead, went a record-setting 15-1 in the playoffs, their only loss coming in Game Four of the best-of-seven championship.
LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.
That's what the Cavaliers must do after falling to the Warriors in the final for the second time in 3 seasons, having rallied from 3-1 down past year to win the crown when James led the series in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks - another unprecedented feat.
The win came three days after the Cavs snapped the Warriors' ideal streak this postseason. The series loss leaves James with a 3-4 record in NBA Finals appearances in his career so far.
Draymond Green is aware that he has a temper, but the Golden State Warriors' All-Star power forward apparently didn't realize the extent of how his temper is perceived by others. They have now won two NBA Championships in three seasons, possibly becoming the greatest team in a three-year window ever. Would the Oklahoma City Thunder have supplanted them as the Western Conference kings, a scenario that looked so possible when they took the Warriors to seven games in the conference finals a year ago?
For James, already a three-times champion, the loss puts him in rare company as only the fourth player to come up short in five NBA Finals.
After Cleveland led 37-33 through the first quarter, Golden State outscored Cleveland 38-23 in the second quarter.
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The game-changing spurt ended with a scuffle when Golden State's David West shoved Irving as he tried to grab the ball away.
Cleveland never led in the second half, but was within 3 early in the fourth quarter. He dramatically drove and dunked on Cleveland's defense, knocked down big 3-pointers and blocked shots while handling the load of defending King James. With an officiating crew that is trying to keep a handle on the physical play, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both have two fouls for the Warriors while Kevin Love and Kyle Korver have picked up a pair for the Cavs. Steph Curry followed with a deep 3 of his own to get the Warriors rolling on a 21-2 run. After scoring 49 points in the first quarter of Game 4, the Cavs are out to a 22-18 lead midway through the first quarter Monday night.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals is off to a much more deliberate start than Game 4's track meet.
The 2017 NBA Finals served as a rubber match of sorts between the teams. Stephen Curry chipped in 34 points on 10-20 shooting with six rebounds and 10 assists. "They're assembled as good as you can assemble, and I played against some really, really good teams that was assembled perfectly, and they're right up there". James' desperation was contagious, and his ability to get to nearly every loose ball helped keep the Cavs close.
James and Kyrie Irving didn't go down without a fight.
"I think our guys just did a good job of hanging in there", Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. Asked before the game if his team would approach the game as if it had "nothing to lose", Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue responded, "We do have something to lose: a championship".
What made them great: Abdul-Jabbar and Robertson might be two of the top five players in National Basketball Association history, and they were on the same sensational team that season.
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