Gold Standard: The Golden State Warriors' Dominant Run to the 2017 Championship
128
Gold Standard: The Golden State Warriors' Dominant Run to the 2017 Championship
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781629373638 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 07/15/2017 |
| Pages: | 128 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.40(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.40(d) |
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Gold Standard
By Triumph Books
Triumph Books LLC
Copyright © 2017 Bay Area News GroupAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62937-363-8
CHAPTER 1
NBA Finals: Game 1
Warriors 113, Cavaliers 91
June 1, 2017 • Oakland, California
Star Power
Warriors Ride Durant, Curry and a Huge Turnover Advantage to Lopsided Win
By Anthony Slater
Klay Thompson's shooting woes worsened, Draymond Green didn't score until late in the third quarter, and Zaza Pachulia led a brigade of first-half missed layups. But the Warriors, while not perfect, were still dominant in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, blasting the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-91 at Oracle Arena.
How? They transformed their two typical flaws into major advantages and rode their two MVPs — one dunking on the world, the other bombing away deep 3s — to a 13th straight playoff win, the 11th by double-digits, upping their average postseason margin of victory to 16.7 per game.
"They're the best I've ever seen," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "I mean, no other team has done this, right? 13-0."
To beat the Warriors this season, and it's been done only 15 times in 95 games, you need to turn them over and beat them up on the glass. The Cavaliers did that on Christmas, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and forcing 19 turnovers, which helped them edge the Warriors by one.
But in Game 1, the Warriors had more second-chance points (18 to 13) and won the turnover battle by an astounding 20-4 margin. Those four turnovers were the fewest the Warriors have committed all season. Their previous low was seven.
"When you turn the ball over against this team, they become impossible to guard," Draymond Green said. "It's LeBron (James) coming downhill, Kyrie (Irving) coming downhill with a bunch of shooters around them. So we knew coming into this game, we had to value the basketball."
That monster advantage gave the Warriors 20 more shot attempts than the Cavaliers (106 to 86). And when you give the Warriors' historically efficient offense that many more chances, even when all parts are not operating optimally, the mountain is too steep to climb.
Especially when Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are standing at the top dropkicking you off.
"You cannot simulate what they bring to the table," James said. "No matter how many days you have off, you can't simulate that."
Durant served as the night's star in his loud return to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers' defense, bottom 10 in the league this season and not that much better in the playoffs, helped get him going. Twice in the first half, with Curry flanking and spreading out to the wing on a fast break, Durant galloped up the floor with those long limbs, looked toward Curry and both Irving and J.R. Smith fled the lane as Durant soared for unharmed dunks.
"Our game plan was backwards," Lue said. "When Kevin Durant has the ball, you don't want to leave him."
But Durant dunked plenty of times against slightly more imposing defensive efforts. Durant shook LeBron to the ground on a quick-twitch pump and go move for a slam, powered through Irving for a layup — his first eight makes were all at the rim — and then forced his way to the free throw line a few times late in the first half, putting up 23 in the first 24 minutes.
The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 56-30 in the paint. Durant finished with a game-high 38 — finally busting out his 3-point shot late to cap his huge night.
But Curry never had to get hot from 3 because he just stayed hot, carrying over his scorching stroke from the last round to plant six of his 11 threes in Game 1, giving him an NBA-high 59 made 3s in 13 playoff games. The Cavaliers' Kevin Love is the next closest shooter, with 41 makes in 14 games.
Curry finished with 28 points and 10 assists — he didn't have more than six assists during any Finals game last year — giving him 66 combined points with Durant, as the two catapulted some of their struggling teammates to the rout.
Pachulia either passed up or butchered three first-half layups, before making a pair of circus shots in the second half.
Thompson played terrific defense but shot three of 16 and missed all five of his 3s as his massive shooting slump worsened.
Green only made three of his 12 shots.
But the Warriors are up 1-0, in dominant fashion, because they protected the ball, won the battle on the glass and let their two stars shine.
"We could be a lot better than we were tonight," Durant said. "But in The Finals, you take the W."
CHAPTER 2NBA Finals: Game 2
Warriors 132, Cavaliers 113
June 4, 2017 • Oakland, California
Big 'D' in Durant
He Scores 33 and Blocks Cavs' Path in Blowout
By Anthony Slater
LeBron James had powerfully dragged the Cavaliers into a competitive fight in Game 2, but for a chance at an upset, he needed a sliver of help in the final eight minutes to take this series back to Cleveland tied.
So the Cavaliers cleared out and posted up Kevin Love on the thinner Kevin Durant. Love nailed Durant with a few power dribbles and rugged shoulders to the chest, but couldn't move him much. So the big man settled for a 10-foot hook shot, a low-percentage look if he even got it off.
But he didn't get it off. Durant rose with those tarantula arms and completely ate Love's hook shot, palming it, staring Love down and then starting a fastbreak the other way. It was Durant's fifth, final and most emphatic block, serving as the punctuation point of the Warriors' 132-113 Game 2 win, sending them to Cleveland with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
"Kev's defense was unreal," Steve Kerr said. "Probably the key to the whole game."
This latest Warrior win — pushing them to a record 14-0 in the playoffs — had everything:
• A Steve Kerr return to the sidelines, announced a couple hours before tip.
• A Stephen Curry triple-double, highlighted by a masterful dribbling exhibition that spun LeBron James into a circle before he scooped in a layup over his sledgehammer block attempt.
• A Klay Thompson breakout, his first game with four 3s since the first round against the Blazers, finishing the night with 22 points on only 12 shots.
But on a night where Draymond Green's foul trouble sapped his usual impact and saddled him on the bench, Durant's two-way dominance may have been the game's most important factor.
To start the second and fourth quarters, when Green typically anchors the Warriors' second-unit, Steve Kerr found his versatile forward in foul trouble. But he wanted to remain with a smaller lineup, pushing the pace and forcing Cleveland into matchup issues.
So he turned to Durant, riding him for a playoff-high 41 minutes and uncorking him as the center, something the Warriors have done very little of this season. It's something they never could've done with Harrison Barnes, who is the size of a normal small forward. But Durant is a 7-foot pterodactyl, who has only gained strength and defensive guile during his first decade in the league.
"I don't think there are many teams in the league where their backup (small-ball center) is better than their starter," Green said. "So I think that's a luxury we have with KD ... To say pick up the slack is kind of a ridiculous term because he's a great player, an MVP, one of the best players in the world. So with me going out, it wasn't like we were going to skip a beat with him right there taking over my minutes."
Durant delivered his first highlight sequence midway through the first quarter. After Kyrie Irving slithered past Klay Thompson and sprung temporarily free for a 12-footer, Durant swooped in from the help-side to swat away the jumper. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed it upcourt and planted a transition 3. Then he back pedalled on defense and, moments later, ripped away LeBron's dribble for one of his three steals.
"When Draymond went out, I just tried to do my best to help everybody out," Durant said. "He's so good at just sniffing out plays before they happen. And so I just tried to follow his lead with that. I learned so much from him throughout the season."
That was only the first of Durant's five blocks. He stoned a Channing Frye pick-and-roll layup attempt later in the first quarter, swiped a LeBron James' driving floater out of bounds in the second quarter and rose to redirect an Iman Shumpert flying dunk attempt in the third, just after Green had left the game and he pushed to the center spot.
But nothing was quite as emphatic or symbolic of his defensive dominance than that fourth quarter block on Love. After a Cavaliers run, the Warriors had redirected momentum, pushed up 16 and were in need of one more big play to put LeBron and the lingering Cavaliers away.
Love went to the power dribble and soft hook. Then Durant rose, completely erased it and scooped up the loose ball.
"They think they got a mismatch and they're trying to go at K in the post and he blocked the shot, get the rebound," Draymond Green smiled.
Then Durant stopped for a moment and, in celebration, yelled in Love's direction.
"See, that's the big part for me, you know, he blocks a shot and start talking," Green said. "That's what got me hyped."
But Durant wasn't done. After enjoying the block for a second or two, he dribbled into the frontcourt, whizzed right by LeBron James with a crossover and then floated in a bank shot over a helpless Love. It put the Warriors up 18. It essentially put the game to rest.
Durant carried over his offensive rhythm from Game 1, scoring 33 points, sending down a couple emphatic dunks, nailing four 3s and handing out six assists. He made six of his nine shots when guarded by LeBron James, who otherwise imposed his will on this game.
"He took some contact and still finished the play," Green said. "Those are the plays that kind of put you over the top, the plays that just bring life into a team. That's the luxury that you have with K, where he get a block, he get the rebound, he don't have to give the ball to nobody, he can go get a bucket. That was a huge play for us. Like you said, I think that's where we kind of closed the game out with that play right there."
In all, Durant finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and those five blocks, joining Tim Duncan and Ralph Sampson as the only players to put up those stats in a playoff game. Add his three steals and Durant delivered a stat-line never seen in NBA history.
CHAPTER 3NBA Finals: Game 3
Warriors 118, Cavaliers 113
June 7, 2017 • Cleveland, Ohio
Shot at History
Stunning Comeback Places Warriors One Win from Title
By Anthony Slater
The Warriors survived the Cavaliers' powerful Game 3 counterpunch and, in doing so, are now just an inch away from the most sparkling run to an NBA title in history.
Trailing for much of the second half, the Warriors clawed back in the fourth quarter and beat the Cavaliers 118-113, bumping them up 3-0 in these NBA Finals, pushing them to 15-0 in these playoffs and planting them on the doorstep of unprecedented playoff perfection.
Of the 15 wins, this was the toughest. LeBron James was a human freight train the entire night, going off for 39 points and coming one assist shy of a triple-double. And unlike the first two games, he finally had help from his co-star, Kyrie Irving, who scored 38 on a number of slithery moves and creative finishes at the rim.
But in the end, it was the Warriors' stars who survived a raucous environment, a two-pronged offensive attack and a seven-point fourth quarter hole, erasing many of the demons that plagued them from a season ago.
"I played against some great teams, but I don't think any team has had this type of firepower," James said. "So even when you're playing well, you got to play like A-plus plus."
Steph Curry was incredible much of the night, going for 26 points, a team-high 13 rebounds, six assists and only one turnover. Klay Thompson parlayed his huge Game 2 into a bigger Game 3, nailing six of the Warriors' 16 3-pointers and hitting 30 points for the first time in this postseason. He kept them afloat early.
But Kevin Durant, the front-runner for Finals MVP, drove the Warriors home in the final sequence.
With less than two minutes left, the Warriors trailed by four and their perfect playoffs were in peril. But with 1:15 left, Durant powerfully pushed Kevin Love back on a drive, got to about 12 feet out and planted a floater to pull the Warriors within two.
On the ensuing possession, Kyle Korver got a decent look at a 3 from the corner, which would've put the Cavaliers back up five with less than a minute left.
But the sharpshooter bricked the shot that will likely haunt his offseason memories. Durant climbed high for the defensive rebound and then, six seconds later, made maybe the biggest shot of his storied career.
Durant pushed the rebound into the frontcourt and, without hesitation, bounced into a deep transition 3 over LeBron James. LeBron rose to try to bother the shot but did so cautiously.
"The last thing I want to do is foul a jump shooter," James said. "So I wanted to jump and contest it, but I know he shoots, he kind of leans forward a little bit. So I just stayed there, high hands, contested."
Didn't matter. Durant drilled it, the most important shot of his career, putting the Warriors up 114-113 with 45 seconds left.
"He took over," coach Steve Kerr said. "You can tell, he knows this is his moment. He's been an amazing player in this league for a long time, and I think he's — he senses this is his time, his moment."
On the next possession, trailing by one, Irving tried to go to work on Klay Thompson, who has dogged him the entire series.
After a failed drive attempt, Irving eventually found himself backing up to that same spot on the right wing where he won the NBA Finals last year.
But despite Irving's offensive exploits on this night — he was 16 of 22 on two-point shots — he was 0 of 7 from three. That seventh miss came with 26 seconds left when he left the pull-back 3 short.
"I'll be replaying that one for a while," Irving said.
Curry grabbed the huge rebound, his 13th, and Durant eventually received the ball and absorbed the foul. He hit both free throws, giving him seven points in 63 seconds — a personal 7-0 run that essentially won this game. The Warriors led by three.
But they still needed one more stop. After a timeout, the Cavaliers drew up a play to get James a corner 3. James navigated into that spot, caught, turned and set up to fire.
But Andre Iguodala, who has had a quiet postseason, made the biggest defensive play of the night, stripping LeBron and knocking it off his leg out of bounds. Curry got the ensuing inbounds, absorbed the automatic foul and made the game-sealing free throws.
"We just kept our poise (in the fourth quarter)," Iguodala said. "In the past, we kind of got haywire and hectic."
Perfection is one game away.
"It's not over," Durant said. "The job's not done. Closeout games are the toughest."
CHAPTER 4NBA Finals: Game 4
Cavaliers 137, Warriors 116
June 9, 2017 • Cleveland, Ohio
No Sweep 16
Record-Setting Cavs Ruin Warriors' Quest for Perfect Postseason
By Anthony Slater
The Warriors' chance at playoff perfection died right before the finish line. Now their shot at redemption will have to wait at least a few more days.
In one of the wildest NBA games in recent memories, the Cavaliers pounced on the Warriors early, shot themselves to a huge lead and staved off a sweep during an emotional — and often unhinged — second half, finishing off the Warriors 137-116 to move this series to 3-1 heading back to Oakland.
In their three previous Game 4s during these playoffs, all sweep-completers, the Warriors buried dejected Western Conference opponents, leading the Blazers by 23, the Jazz by 22 and the Spurs by 12 after the first quarter.
It was the opposite on Friday night. The Cavaliers erupted right from the tip, scoring 14 points in the first two-and-a-half minutes, spiking out to their first double-digit lead of the series in a flash.
"We were not sharp defensively and they got it rolling," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They brought a level of physicality that we did not match."
Then the Warrior fouls started to pile up. They had 10 in the first six minutes. Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry each had two fouls in the first 10 minutes.
The Cavaliers shot 22 free throws in the first quarter, which served as the backbone of the best offensive quarter in Finals history, done against the NBA's best defense during these playoffs.
"You got to give them credit," Draymond Green said. "They were aggressive, but when everyone has two fouls, it's hard to match the physicality."
The Cavaliers made 14 free throws, hit seven of their 12 first-quarter 3s, made 14 of their 24 shots and scored a record 49 first-quarter points, jumping out to a 16-point lead on a shellshocked Warriors team, absorbing and staggering from the biggest punch they've faced in these playoffs.
"We gave up a game's worth of points in the first half," David West said.
Things somewhat stabilized in the second quarter, as the Cleveland lead fluctuated between 10 and 20. The Warriors scored 35 points in the quarter, but their defense remained a problem, ceding another 37 to the Cavaliers, who put up a record 86 in the first half. The Cavs led by 18 at the break and finished the night with a Finals record 24 made 3s.
"I don't envision them coming to Oracle and hitting 24 3s," Green said.
Some of it was because of breakdowns, but plenty of it was ridiculous shot-making by a desperate Cavaliers team, determined to not let the Warriors celebrate on their home floor for a second time in three years.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Gold Standard by Triumph Books. Copyright © 2017 Bay Area News Group. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction By Anthony Slater,NBA Finals: Game 1,
NBA Finals: Game 2,
NBA Finals: Game 3,
NBA Finals: Game 4,
NBA Finals: Game 5,
Kevin Durant Claims Finals MVP,
Press Coverage Intense on Curry, Durant & Co.,
Record Breaker,
Zero to Sixty,
Klay Thompson,
Steve Kerr,
So Sweet,
Andre Iguodala,
Draymond Green,
Mike Brown,
Kevin Durant,
Stephen Curry,
Lacob-Green Mutual Admiration Society,
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. Portand,
Western Conference Semifinals vs. Utah,
Western Conference Finals vs. San Antonio,