Preface
As one of the most successful teams of the 21st century, the Warriors have won four championships in the past decade, including a two-game winning streak, and they are also officially recognized by the NBA as a dynasty team, only in terms of the number of championships, they are only second to the Lakers. Under the leadership of Curry and others, the Warriors have not only become a top team from a mediocre team over the years, but also changed the league's style of play, completely setting off a wave of small-ball lineups and three-point shooting.
Although the Warriors returned to the playoffs in the 2012-2013 season, they officially announced their rise in the 2014-2015 season, when the Warriors ranked first in the league with a 67-15 record in the regular season, and Curry was also elected MVP with an average of 23.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2 steals per game.
In the playoffs, the Warriors are still very strong, and they swept the Pelicans, who are eighth in the West, in the first round, and Curry averaged 33.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in that series, and he is also a well-deserved MVP in this round.
The second round against the Grizzlies can be said to be the most thrilling series of the first three rounds of the Warriors, they once fell behind the opponent with a score of 1-2, but after the third game, the Warriors seemed to have opened up the second vein of Rendu, they eliminated the opponent directly in three consecutive cities, and the smallest of the three games had 13 points, and Curry averaged 24.5 points, 5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game in this series.
The Western Conference finals against the Rockets, this series was obviously easier than the semifinals, and in the end, the Warriors also swept the opponent with a big score of 4-1, and the only loss was a 3-0 lead. Curry is undoubtedly still the best player in this series, averaging 31.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2 steals per game, shooting 51.5% from the field, and averaging 5.4 three-pointers per game with a 49.1% shooting rate.
Then it was time for the finals, the last time the Warriors reached the Finals was in 1975, when they had Rick Barry, Wilkes, Baird and others on their roster, and they easily swept the Washington Bullets 4-0 in the finals that year, and in the end, Rick Barry was also elected FMVP.
After 40 years, the Warriors reached the Finals again, but unlike last time, this time the Warriors are the favored side, on the one hand, because the Cavaliers have a mediocre regular season record, and then they are still plagued by injuries. At the point of the finals, when the difference between the two sides is not large, whoever is the healthiest will be easier to win the championship.
Although the Warriors were at home in the first game of the Finals, they were a little slow to heat up, and they were not in shape on both offensive and defensive ends in the first quarter, which also caused them to fall behind their opponents with a score of 19-29 at the end of the first quarter. However, fortunately, the Warriors slowly found their rhythm from the second quarter, and they have been steadily chasing points, and in the second quarter, Curry scored 10 points and 4 assists on 4-of-4 shooting in a single quarter to help the team narrow the gap to 3 points at halftime.
In the second half, the Warriors relied on defense to limit the opponent again, and when James scored 12 points in a single quarter, the Cavaliers still only scored 22 points, so the Warriors also tied the score. In the final quarter, the two sides fell into a white-hot competition, the score went back and forth, and the final game was dragged into overtime. In overtime, the Cavaliers were physically exhausted, coupled with Irving's injury, and the Warriors took advantage of the situation to directly play a wave of 10-2 to take away the game. As the leader of both sides, Curry scored 26 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, while James scored 44 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
The second game is still the home court of the Warriors, and Irving can't play yet, so many people thought that the Warriors would rewrite the score to 2-0 in one go, but James led the Cavaliers to still resist strongly. After the first half, the Cavaliers still led by 2 points, James mainly focused on tandem offense, and he scored 10 points and 6 assists at halftime, while Curry's performance was not bad and he had 11 points and 2 assists on 5-of-7 shooting.
In the second half, the two sides turned into a defensive battle, and the shooting rates on both sides in this quarter were miserable, the Cavaliers shot 4 of 21, the Warriors shot 5 of 16, James and Curry were also severely limited, but relying on the rebounding advantage, the Cavaliers still led by 3 points after the final third quarter. In the final quarter, both sides had an upbeat offensive touch, but it was clear that the Warriors were in better shape, and the game ended up in overtime again.
In overtime, the Cavaliers relied on their defense to limit the Warriors' shooting percentage again, and the Warriors scored 6 points on 2-of-9 shooting in those 5 minutes, while the Cavaliers also had a dismal shooting rate, but they still had an advantage in physical confrontation, so they got more free throws, and finally Dellavedova caused the opponent to foul the offense, and took away the game after hitting both free throws. James had 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists, while Curry had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The third game of the finals came to Cleveland, the Cavaliers firmly took the initiative from the beginning, their defense was indeed very desperate, and the Warriors were defended by them at halftime and only scored 37 points, and although the Cavaliers did not feel very good, they made full use of their physical advantages, and they also led by 7 points at the end of the half.
In the second half, the Cavaliers became more and more courageous, and the score was 28-18 in the third quarter, and the difference was also stretched to nearly 20 points, and James and Dellavedovar combined for 23 points and 6 assists in this quarter. In the final quarter, the Warriors finally found their touch, Curry scored 17 points with 5 three-pointers in a single quarter, and the difference was once narrowed to only 1 point. But the Cavaliers finally withstood the pressure, and James also scored 14 points in the final quarter to help the team win without danger, he scored 40 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks in this game, while Curry's statistics were 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
After losing the third game, Warriors head coach Kerr also took the initiative to make changes, they demoted starting center Bogut to the bench, promoted Iguodala, and changed the game strategy from the traditional style of play to speed up the pace of the game, wanting to "run" the Cavaliers. Eventually, Kerr's change proved to be a clever move, and the Cavaliers have not been a match for the Warriors since then, as they were beaten three times in a row to see the Warriors win the championship on their home court.
In the next three games, Curry was the leader of the team, and his statistics were 22 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists, 37 points, 7 rebounds, assists and 2 steals, 25 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, and he averaged 26 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game throughout the series. Until now, there are still many fans who are upset about Curry, because looking at the stats, he is definitely the best player in the Warriors' series, but the media did not vote for Curry because they considered that it was the Warriors who completed the comeback after Iguodala played the starter.
And from the next three games, only the G6 score difference did not exceed double digits, it can be seen that the Cavaliers can't cope with the Warriors' five-small lineup at all, even a veteran like James, he has not faced such a style of play in the playoffs, but he really tried his best, and his personal data in the last three games were 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, 32 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals. James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game throughout the series, and in the case of the team's other two giants having seasons and a serious back injury of his own, James's performance has earned everyone's respect, and in the end, he received more FMVP votes than Curry as a loser.