The Golden State Warriors have once again reached the NBA Finals, this time with the road to their eventual destination looking a lot more complex than what fans had come to expect after winning 15 straight games the last postseason in their way to a second NBA title in three seasons.
The addition of Kevin Durant made what was already lined out to be a potential dynasty team a near foregone conclusion to have its name stapled in the NBA Finals so long as the roster could stay together. Even with that being the case, Durant won't rest on his laurels despite the coalition of talent taking place in the Bay Area.
“It’s not,” Kevin Durant told Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. “All-Stars don’t matter, accomplishments don’t matter. It’s about how you play on the court. That’s what separates us from the good teams in the league, is no matter the talent you’ve got, you’ve still got to play every night.”
“That’s why we never come in like, ‘We’re invincible.’ Because teams are getting better, players are good. The schemes, the way the game is taught different. We can’t walk into many games feeling that we’re entitled or that we’re supposed to win. You’ve got to knuckle down and play. This series showed that.”
The Warriors have had to grind out their way through the Western Conference Finals, putting away the Houston Rockets in a Game 7 on the road on Monday night to secure their ticket to some more playoff basketball.
Their much-anticipated rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers, have had a similar test throughout these playoffs, surviving two Game 7s in the shoulders of LeBron James to find themselves in another iteration of this now-storied rivalry.
Both teams will be forced to put it all on the line to wound up with the championship, having had their mettle tested through this playoff run in hopes of a shot for another NBA title.
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