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This Day In Sports…May 22, 2017:
The Golden State Warriors become the first team in NBA history to begin the playoffs with 12 straight wins as they sweep away the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals with a 129-115 victory. The stars came out for the Warriors, as Stephen Curry poured in 36 points and Kevin Durant put up 29. This was truly a super team, as Curry and Durant combined with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to form a formidable core. The Warriors would up their playoffs run to 15 straight wins (read on).
Golden State was on a collision course with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. It would be the Warriors’ third straight Finals against the Cavs, having taken their first NBA title in 50 years against Cleveland in 2015 before becoming the first team in history to blow a three games-to-one lead in the 2016 Finals. Golden State struck back in 2017, dominating LeBron James and the Cavaliers four games-to-one. The Warriors ended the postseason 16-1, another NBA record.
Durant was finishing the first of his three seasons with Golden State. He was remarkably consistent for the Warriors, averaging 25.1, 26.4 and 26.0 points, and he was NBA Finals MVP when the team won the 2017 championship and repeated the feat in 2018. Seattle fans don’t have to be reminded that Durant began his NBA career in 2007 with the Sonics, the year before they moved to Oklahoma City. He just completed his third season with the Phoenix Suns—it’s highly likely he’ll be somewhere else this fall.
To be fair to the Spurs, they were ravaged by injuries. Kawhi Leonard had gone down with a season-ending ankle injury, and Tony Parker was out as well. Furthermore, it marked the final appearance in the career of 39-year-old San Antonio star Manu Ginobili, who started the game as a show of respect from coach Gregg Popovich. Ginobili scored 15 points in 32 minutes. Today, the Spurs are in total rebuild mode after the retirement of Popovich, while the Warriors long for one more title run with Curry and Green.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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