Golden State Warriors punch ticket to fourth straight NBA Finals vs. Cavs

NBA Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
NBA Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Golden State Warriors outlasted the Houston Rockets in Game 7 to punch their ticket to a fourth straight NBA Finals, where they will face LeBron – again

Once again, the one thing standing between the Golden State Warriors winning a second-straight NBA Championship and their third in four years is LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before punching their ticket to a fourth straight NBA Finals, they had to outlast a formidable Houston Rockets team that frankly fell apart at the seams by the end of their grueling 7-game series against the defending champions.

Perhaps the most unfortunate part of it all was the Chris Paul injury – he missed the final two games of the series, both of which the Warriors won to erase a 3-2 series deficit.

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As for the Warriors, they did what was necessary. They played ugly basketball at times, but when they needed it most their stars rose to the occasion to ensure they would not lose their second postseason series in the last four years.

Interestingly, it still doesn’t feel like the Warriors have played their best basketball. In fact, they might have been playing just 80 percent of their potential. Stephen Curry has only had one 30-point game in this year’s postseason run, and only shot 36 percent from 3-point range against the Houston Rockets – it might sound solid, but that’s actually quite low for his expectations.

Kevin Durant has been the best player on the Warriors during the playoffs, and he’s come up big when the team has needed him most. Klay Thompson woke up against the Houston Rockets, after a lackluster showing in the second-round against the New Orleans Pelicans.

But even he has only had two breakout games in the playoffs thus far.

The scary part of this all is that despite not playing up to their best, the Warriors have only lost five times this postseason (3 against the Rockets). Once again, we get LeBron James vs. arguably the best team ever assembled.

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Last year, the Warriors overwhelmed the Cavs and knocked them off in 5. Will this year be any different?