"I just had to trust in it, we were really good tonight", Durant said after the game. "It's The Finals. There's pressure on both teams, a lot at stake".
James played averaged a triple-double during the NBA Finals, but it was not enough to prevent the Cavaliers from losing in five games to the Warriors following Monday's 129-120 loss in Oakland.
James had a game-high 41 points and Irving hit tough shots all night but defensive breakdowns by Cleveland led to easy baskets late in the game for the Warriors, igniting a deafening crowd.
The Cavs shot 62 percent from the field in the first quarter while taking a 37-33 lead, but the Warriors dominated the second quarter to grab a 11-point halftime advantage.
After going up 3-0 in the series, the Warriors ran into a Cavs team with perhaps more fight left than anyone expected.
Stephen Curry added 34 points and 10 assists while Andre Iguodala came off the bench to score 20 points.
"We were able to get them a year ago, and they went out and got one of the best players that this league has ever seen", James said. For five straight games, he did that and then some.
"I just wanted to come in there and just be me".
But he said: "It's a team sport".
"We do have something to lose - a championship", Lue said. "To play with these guys is awesome".
Refs clarify odd Draymond Green-Steve Kerr technical foul switcheroo
Green replied. "I don't know". "So it's all things that happen bad aren't that bad, when you take a step back and look at them". It was a relatively tame reaction for Green, but was still enough for referee Marc Davis to slap him with a technical foul.
But James, in his seventh consecutive playoff series and eighth overall, fell to 3-5 in the championship round.
Mission accomplished - and he has been named NBA Finals MVP.
"You can't stop the guy", Durant said. "But I'm going to celebrate this one for now".
"I don't need to be out on the court", James said. I knew it was gonna be a battle.
"But once you get that first, no matter what anybody says from now on in your career, they can't take away from you being a champion".
"It's no such thing as a failed season when you put in as much work as we have done individually and as a ball club since September".
After dropping last year's title when Cleveland made the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history from a 3-1 deficit, the Warriors vowed not to stumble again.
The Cavs superstar finished the series with averages of 33.6 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists over five games.
However, there was one celebration which caught everyone's eye as MVP Durant and his mother, Wanda, who was present at the Oracle Arena during the final, shared a special moment after the match got over.
Before this season's Finals tipped off, the Westgate SuperBook installed Golden State as a minus-160 favorite to win next year's title.
Comments