But what always felt inevitable was finally made official late Monday night: the Warriors are National Basketball Association champions again, for the second time in three years, clinching the 2017 title with a 129-120 Game 5 putaway of LeBron James and his powerful Cavaliers.
Fast-forward a year later and Durant has been named 2017 NBA Finals MVP, having scored 30-plus points in all five games en route to his first NBA Championship. Durant was almost flawless in Game 5, scoring 39 points on 14-20 shooting, with seven rebound and five assists. The Slim Reaper would go on to win the Bill Russell Finals MVP.
Golden State answered with a game-turning 27-4 run, slam dunks by Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green and three Durant 3-pointers spicing the spurt that produced a 60-45 Warriors lead.
James was valiant in defeat for the Cavs with 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Cleveland's one win in the series last Friday only delayed the celebration in Oakland by 72 hours.
Kevin Durant and Steph Curry have been superb for Golden State in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. But the Warriors bench had been the difference through three quarters.
As for the champions, Durant led the scoring but was well supported by Curry with 34 points.
Warriors GM says Steve Kerr will be back as coach next season
Golden State finished the playoffs 16-1 when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals . He averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists en route to the award.
A dominant, and tense, second quarter had the Warriors smelling the title, the fifth in team history.
With a much-improved bench led by Iguodala, JaVale McGee, Shaun Livingston and West, that "Strength In Numbers" slogan that has become such a staple the past two seasons shined all season long, from Durant's 19-game absence late in the regular season with a left knee injury to assistant coach Mike Brown stepping in for 11 postseason games to lead the way while Steve Kerr was ailing. They were wildly overmatched in terms of talent and depth in this one but made it a series primarily on the backs of James, Irving and Smith. In the other three quarters, Cleveland held a four-point advantage. Cleveland's subs have scored just two points. Plus, the Warriors went 4-of-4 from three in the second. But not far behind from his gaudy numbers was none other than LeBron James, who ended up with a triple-double average for the series and finished with a game-high 41 points in Monday night's loss.
After an extended review of the confrontation, officials Danny Crawford and Ed Malloy assessed technical fouls to Thompson and Smith as well and did not give West a second technical, which would have resulted in an ejection.
Durant stretches the @warriors lead back up to 8!
As he waited for a postgame interview, Wanda Durant embraced her son and tugged at his face, saying "You did it" to him. Then it was Golden State's time again. Curry had 12 for the Warriors, but they were 2-of-7 from three.
Irving and James turned back-to-back steals into impressive tone-setting layups as part of a 16-3 Cleveland run for an 20-12 edge, James hitting 4-of-5 for 10 points at the start.
Steve Kerr becomes the fourth coach in National Basketball Association history with two titles in his first three seasons (really.fourth!?).
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