Heading into Game 3 and playing in his seventh straight Finals, James is averaging 28.5 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists but it hasn't been enough for the Cavs, who lost Games 1 and 2 by a combined 41 points.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were so much better than in the previous two games.
"It's part of the rules", James said Thursday. "He's earned it. He's been in this league for a long time, and he's, I think, at the top of his game at the biggest time". Right now, look at our TV ratings, look at the money our league is pouring in.
"I didn't envision anything but being around good people and getting better every single day", Durant said.
He pointed out that the National Basketball Association isn't the only league where dynasties have been built by owners throwing around money, using the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s as examples. Is it fair that the New York Yankees in the '90s was adding piece after piece after piece after piece?
"I want to win just as bad as they do and obviously they probably got a bad taste in their mouth after what happened last year and we had one in our mouth last year from what happened the year before", James said. I don't contribute as losing this game because we got exhausted.
"It took a while for it to kind of reveal itself consistently as the regular season went on, but once it clicked and the habits started to become second nature, it was kind of handsome to watch and an wonderful kind of style to play and watch unfold", Curry said.
With that, James walked off the dais, ending a news conference in which he addressed the dawn of Golden State's dynasty, his future and criticism for a play late in Wednesday's loss.
The game got chippy in the third quarter as James and Durant received double technical fouls after a heated exchange of words.
Kyle Busch turns fastest lap at Pocono for 2nd straight pole
Busch poked fun at his terse response-and-drop to a question a couple of weeks ago that was scrutinized around NASCAR. The Joe Gibbs Racing star really went through the paces in this final chance to dial-in for Sunday's race.
But that means little to Golden State's players, who with a victory in Game 4 on Friday night can exorcise those haunting demons from last June when the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to the Cavaliers.
But except for an exaggerated yawn before taking the first question, James was upbeat, satisfied that he has done everything within his power to slow the Warriors, who have toyed with the field for weeks.
For the third straight year, the Cavs came out strong in Game 3. James was rushing to the perimeter on defense, and Thompson moved back and the two collided, laying James out on the court.
The NBA's best postseason run is the 15-1 mark of the 2001 Lakers, while the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers went 12-1.
Combine that with last year's 73-win season, and a second title in three years - which could have easily been three consecutive championships - and foundation of the case has been made. They won a championship, and previous year it was the greatest regular-season team we had played, probably one of the best postseason teams that everybody's ever seen as well, but we were just able to overcome that. We're a better team. "You can tell, he knows this is his moment".
"I thought our team scrapped and competed", Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.
And James has once again been criticized for not being more aggressive late in Game 3, when he made a pass to Kyle Korver. Durant, meanwhile, scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds left for a 114-113 advantage.
Then he added another thought: "Oh yeah, we comin' back".
CLEVELAND (AP) - Kevin Durant never demanded he'd get to take the biggest shot of the NBA Finals. "That's exactly what happened throughout the season", Durant said.
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