The NBA finals came to a close this year with a four-game sweep against the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Friday night the Golden State Warriors were unstoppable, winning game 4 with a whopping 108:85. It was a historic moment for basketball where we saw Kevin Durant lockdown King James and win the MVP award, and certainly a great excitement for the Betway Kenya users.
Kevin Durant finished the game with 10 assists, 12 rebounds, and 20 points. Durant showed consistency throughout all four games and was the talisman for the team. He is now two-time NBA champion and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.
Durant’s NBA Finals MVP was contested by none other than Stephen Curry who scored a spectacular 37 points most of which were 3 pointers. Curry enjoyed three great games while in game 3 of the Finals he displayed a performance short of his sharpshooting capabilities – scoring a meagre 11 points while playing for 39 minutes. It was game 3 that probably gave Kevin Durant the edge over Curry by carrying the team to victory – he did score 43 points in 43 minutes.
Game 4 fell short of a thriller since the Cavs were in need of a scorer. Lebron James has been breaking records and is the first player in NBA history to amass 30,000 points, 8,000 assists, and 8,000 rebounds. King James’ accolades and stats will cement his place amongst greats in the history of basketball. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers needed all it could get against a team that had multiple weapons and could conjure something out of nothing with the likes of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green. Now, amongst all of King James’ records, he is the first player to be swept twice in the NBA Finals. This may be a sign to change things up a bit and leave. If the Cavaliers do not bolster their squad with some serious firepower, the James may be on his way out seeking a better team. We cannot be too hard on him if the rest of the roster is nowhere near good at this point. J.R. Smith practically gave away game 1 with a mental lapse right before the clock.
This is now the Golden State Warriors third NBA championship in the span of four years and will boast one of the greatest offensive threats the NBA has ever seen. Plagued with injuries throughout the season the Warriors still managed to win the championships. Game 4 really showed just how exhausted the players really were – and still get away with the win – with Stephen Curry describing the fourth quarter as the hardest quarter both ‘physically and mentally.’ Bearing in mind that NBA dynasties had serious individual talent: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen being largely responsible for the Bulls championships, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson for the Lakers, the Kobe and Shaq duo for the Lakers as well. It is this Golden State Warriors team where we see unselfish team effort. It might set the standard for a new type of basketball in the near future.
Warriors coach and legend Steve Kerr stated that ‘Cleveland was not a good defensive team this year, I’m just stating a fact, they were 28th or 29th in the league defensively and it was not their strong suit.’