After completing their 3-1 series comeback in the Western Conference Finals, the Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals
They say life comes at you fast, but apparently not as fast as the Golden State Warriors.
All season people wondered what would happen if the Warriors grabbed the best regular season record from the Bulls, and didn’t win the title. But being on the brink of elimination, the Warriors prevailed to at the very least get a chance to defend their NBA Title on the biggest stage.
The OKC Thunder made the Warriors, a 73-9 regular season record team that hadn’t loss back-to-back games all season, look as if the Monstars had stole their powers for the first four games of the Western Conference Finals.
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A lot of people didn’t know what to make of this, but the Warriors were given lemons, and made lemonade – word to Beyonce.
We expected the Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant duo to come up big, but what you didn’t expect was for their role players to do the same. One of the biggest questions about OKC during the regular season was about their depth; Andre Roberson was often ignored by teams and Dion Waiters is about as streaky as they come.
But in the Western Conference Finals, Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, Waiters, and Roberson definitely stepped their game up.
Without a doubt, Stephen Curry deserved the MVP award this season but during the Western Conference Finals, without a doubt, Russell Westbrook outplayed him several times.
Steve Kerr coached in 39 regular season games yet won Coach of the Year due to the Warriors’ win record record, but a few decisions – such as lineups and lack of adjustments – had a few people questioning his coaching skills.
The “Death Lineup” seemingly was the death of the Warriors; the Thunder used their athleticism and length against the lineup.
You’re probably reading this thinking “Well if all of this happened, how did OKC lose this series?”
OKC reverted back to “hero ball” – simple as that. The strategy that OKC had to give them the 3-1 series lead worked, but when the pressure is on, people usually go back to what they know, and for the OKC Thunder, that’s hero ball.
Also, several times during Game 7, Westbrook took ill-advised shots and, at times, I forgot Kevin Durant was even on the floor but he turned it on late in the 4th quarter. In the end, though, it was too little too late, and the OKC Thunder have gone fishing.
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The Golden State Warriors did what great teams do – they prevailed. If you’re looking for the Warriors, they’re in the confidence department, and we get a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals. Golden State was questioned all last summer about their championship because Cleveland wasn’t healthy, but this year they are, so let the games begin.