Originally compiled from: The Athletic
Written by Tim Kawakami
原标题：Kawakami: You can’t break up Stephen Curry and the Warriors because it’ll never be like this again
Curry grabbed five points in seven battles to save the Warriors, which is not the end of the dynasty, but also the continuation of the legend:
The Warrior Dynasty has not yet reached the point where the song is over:
You can't tear up the Warriors because they didn't let a miracle happen. You can't tear up the Warriors because that shouldn't happen until Stephen Curry's last fast break and Draymond Green's last shot, shouldn't be considered until Steve Kerr leaves, Kevin Looney is tired of rebounding and Klay Thompson doesn't want to shoot anymore.
So maybe it will never happen. You can't tear the Warriors apart for everything you saw and felt in Sunday's G7 game where the Warriors Gold One beat the Kings 120-100. Because no other team silences hostile crowds like this and pushes themselves to play like this in such epic moments. If Curry wants this to last forever, you can't break up the Warriors — he scored 50 points, the most points in Game 7, to ensure this lasts at least one more round.
You can't tear up the Warriors, even though it's a season-wide possibility, which could have ended on Sunday.
But it doesn't end there. You can't tear up the Warriors because once it's over, it's not going to be like that again. Draymond could become a free agent this summer. Bob Myers can too. The Warriors' huge luxury tax is coming to expire. So what? You can't intentionally end it sooner than absolutely necessary. You can't do that the way the Michael Jordan Bulls split after the famous "Last Dance" 1997-98 season.
I think Game 7 is where owner Joe Lacob, Draymond and Myers can't and won't let themselves be another reason to cancel it all.
"Who knows what's going to happen this summer, but it's a special time," Cole told me after a news conference. "I know that when we won a championship in '15, it was the first time the Warriors had won a championship in 40 years. As a member of the Bulls '98, they've had a really good team ever since. It hasn't been 25 years since he returned to the Grand Finals.
"No matter how strong your team is, these things are very difficult. It's rare for teams like this to get together. There's some luck in this. In my opinion, as long as you can't, you have to ride it, because it's inevitably hard to get back to the top.
I didn't ask Rakob specifically, but his mood could probably be summed up in one of his words as he walked out of the arena with his thumb on Sunday night.
"It's not over yet!" Larkob said.
The battle of Lake Brave will be another key to testing the warriors
You can't tear up the Warriors because they desperately don't want to be taken apart. That's what they've shown us and the league as a whole with this amazing series, which has had some tragic Warrior lows and several extraordinary and unparalleled highs.
You can't tear up the Warriors because the Kings will beat almost every other team in the league on Sunday and still take a hit. You can't tear up the Warriors as their second-round series against LeBron James Lakers, with their first game at Chase Center on Tuesday, is the most anticipated No. 6 and No. 7 seed showdown in sports history.
Long after the game, the core of the Warriors all lingered in the locker room, chatting happily about what had just happened. You can't tear up the Warriors because that's why, as Kerr told them after the game, it's a championship team.
The Warriors are fortunate to have Curry
It's also a very real team. When I mentioned to Andrew Wiggins that he and almost everyone on the court, the Warriors and the Kings, were struggling to put the ball in the basket due to intense defense on both sides in the third quarter, Wiggins laughed and made a good point.
"Yes, but we have Stephen," Wiggins said. "So it's okay."
You can't tear up the Warriors because they did it even after a bad performance in Game 6, when they never seemed to keep up, even though they had a chance to finish the series at home. You can't tear up the Warriors because they're so stubborn — they know they've won Game 5 at Golden No. 1 and decide to do it again in a life-or-death situation.
If they lose Sunday, maybe it's all starting to tear apart. But even if the Warriors continue to be counterattacked by the Lakers, I think the sound of this series will be stronger and more meaningful than anything else. The Warriors can still do it. Still united. You can still win the championship.
This is Game 7 of the fifth game of the Curry era, and in these ultimate scenarios, they are now 3-2. That's a lot of games 7! It's just the first round, not the Western Conference Finals (they won Game 7 at home against Oklahoma City in 2016 and Houston in 2018), or even the Final (when they lost Game 7 home to the Cavaliers in 2016).
But at this stage of the dynasty, almost everything feels like it could be, well, somehow final.
"It's in this moment, it feels like the biggest moment," Draymond said. "Frankly, Stephen's performance, you look at all the things we've been through as a team, winning Game 5 here and coming home and coming back here and having to do it all again and do it better than you did in Game 5, that's very impressive. I think that's telling.
"Now you talk about 'The Last Dance', this, that... This took things up a few notches.
Cole's tactics and the spirit of the team played a role
You can't tear the Warriors apart because true to the spirit of the entire Quadruple journey, they won the game in an original way. They combed through offensive moves, mostly going to the high post with Curry almost every time, and simplifying everyone's decision, rather than letting the pressure from the Kings throw them off the beat.
Kerr also put Draymond back in the starting lineup, after the Warriors were in the starting lineup with Jordan Poole for the previous four games. Looking lethargic, the Warriors, who trailed 8-0, immediately rejuvenated themselves from Sunday's start in Game 6 and set the tone with an 18-12 lead. Basically, Curry was responsible for the rest of the scoring, Looney took over the rebounds (21 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end), and Draymond, Wiggins and Klay ran around defending the Kings' dangerous scorers.
"The way we've been operating over the years, if we win the playoffs, we usually stick with it," Cole told me. "Last year, we beat Denver three times (in the first round) and Stephen came off the bench (after he missed the final weeks of the regular season), so we continue to do that. The players understand this. These things are rhythmic, especially in the playoffs. If you find something useful, you stick with it.
"But once it doesn't, then you have to go back to what you trust the most." Our Game 6 was so bad on many levels that going back to the main starting five was an automatic decision.
This is also a full commitment to the main five. Curry and Draymond both played 38 minutes, and if the Kings hadn't canceled the game with 40 minutes and 2 seconds left, he would have played more than 39 minutes. Wiggins played 37 minutes and Klay 35 minutes, and despite his poor shooting (16 points on 4-of-419 shooting), his defense drew Kerr's praise. Here's the proof: Clay's plus/minus is the best +30 in the game.
In addition, the Warriors won the second half 64-42. Isn't this when the old and tired Warriors should be held back by the Kings' speed, athleticism and youth? Malik Monk made the same suggestion after race 6 and I have to admit, I want to know that too. We should all know, though. The Warriors' old lion heard Monk's comments. You bet they did.
"Monk said we were old," Draymond said after the game.
What do you think of these comments, Stephen?
"The competitive spirit is always in our hearts, and we don't need any voices to motivate us, but know they think they help with the pace," Curry said. "At the end of the day, we knew who we were, (spent) this last 36 hours regrouping and trying to figure out what our adjustments were going to be and how we're going to play out.
"We had a great presentation and a great video conference yesterday. There was still tension and anxiety expecting a big night, but when we stepped out, our experience took over the game. It feels comfortable to jump.
The battle of Lake Yong is facing a test
Now, starting Tuesday's game against the Lakers, who play very differently from the Kings and have been very tough on the Warriors this season. The Lakers aren't a young team either, but they've been over since Friday.
We'll see. But I don't think the Warriors will feel too tired to fight their best, it's what they've always done. It's LeBron vs Warriors again, after four consecutive Warrior-Cavaliers Finals meetings in the opening game of the Warriors dynasty. You can't break up the Warriors because it's still an epic adventure.
"What I'm saying is, stop trying to turn the page on us so quickly," Draymond said. "Stop trying to turn the page of 'Brown' so quickly. We are so obsessed with what comes next that we don't appreciate the present. And then you move on to the next thing and look back, man, I hope we still have it. ... For me and our players, we will appreciate that every step of the way.
There will never be such a warrior team. And there will never be a feeling like Game 7 unless, perhaps, until the next time these players enter a hostile stadium, everything is online. Rejection – absolutely, fanatical refusal – lets it all end.