"To be back here and bring gold Larry (the O'Brien trophy) back home, I'm just excited to be a part of this group and accomplish something special. They beat us, but I'm pretty sure we'll be back and we'll be ready to battle again". After waltzing through the first three games and then getting blown out in Game 4, I really haven't anxious too much about the Warriors during these finals. The Cavaliers went on to win three games in a row to secure the franchise's first title.
At his postgame media conference, James was asked if he felt happy for his friend winning his first National Basketball Association championship.
"The one thing I didn't realize - I coached Steve as a player", Brown said. A 67-win season followed by a record 15-0 start to the playoffs, dropping game four in Cleveland to miss being the first unbeaten playoff champion.
The Warriors had been dominating the entire series, and many thought the scrappy, young team from Oakland, Calif., would sweep the champion Cavaliers the same way they swept through their earlier competition in the playoffs, but the Cavaliers rallied, and Friday night's loss in Cleveland sent the series back to Oakland with a forced game 5. Not to mention a healthy one after his 2016 injuries.
Cleveland star LeBron James played in his seventh consecutive Finals and eighth career Finals, falling to 3-5.
Green had sat out Game 5 a year ago, suspended because of flagrant foul point accumulation after he swiped at James' groin in Game 4.
Are the Golden State Warriors the greatest of all time?
Kevin Durant can finally call himself an National Basketball Association champion , and no one can take that away from him. In the second quarter of the contest, James ran down the court on a fast break against Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson . ".
Having added Durant last off-season to the talents of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green among others, it was perhaps hardly surprising they should sweep all before them. "Now we're champs again". "I left everything I had out on the floor every single game for five games in this Finals, and you come up short".
Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors celebrating after being named Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after winning the 2017 NBA Finals at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on June 12, 2017.
The Warriors became the first Bay Area team to capture a championship at home since the A's finished the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1974 World Series. The season could not have ended any better for Durant after joining the Warriors in free agency.
Durant even hugged James.
Still on the court, he and Curry looked into each other's eyes, did a little shake then slapped hands several times. However, he has played in a remarkable seven straight championships. Cleveland's Big Three was not in full force with Kevin Love held to six points. J.R. Smith nearly single-handedly kept the Cavs in the game Monday with his unbelievable 3-point shooting. But the home team was determined not to let history repeat itself, not settling for their usual array of 3-pointers but taking the ball to the cup early on. Then, in transition after a steal from reserve guard Deron Williams, Smith caught a pass from Irving and buried a three-pointer from the left wing with 4.7 seconds left. Though those two were the focal point of their offense, one can not exclude the huge contributions of Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green with the latter scoring 10 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. At the end of it all a new champion was crowned and the likes of Matt Barnes, David West, Patrick McCaw, Zaza Pachulia, James Michael McAdoo and JaVale McGee will collect championship rings at the beginning of next season.
His finals performance was precisely why Golden State went after him in the offseason.
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