Kevin Durant inspires Golden State Warriors to beat Cleveland Cavaliers and clinch NBA title
ByReuters
Published 13/06/2017 at 08:14 GMT
The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 on Monday to win their second NBA championship in three seasons and cap a near-perfect run through the playoffs.
Steph Curry, Kevin Durant et Draymond Green
Image credit: Getty Images
The Warriors, who beat Cleveland in the 2015 Finals only to lose to them last year after squandering a 3-1 series lead, went a record-setting 15-1 in the playoffs, their only loss coming in Game Four of the best-of-seven championship.
Kevin Durant signed with the Warriors hoping to win an elusive title and on Monday he not only reached his goal, but was also named the unanimous Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.
Durant, in his first season with the Warriors, led the way in a 4-1 series win over the Cavaliers to capture his maiden NBA title.
The 28-year-old American averaged 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the best-of-seven Finals, which the Warriors wrapped up in five games.
To win his first NBA title, Durant had to overcome Cavaliers forward LeBron James, whose former Miami Heat team defeated Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Finals.
"He's the only person that I was looking at since 2012," Durant said after the game.
"I knew it was going to be a battle I just tried to challenge him ... you can't stop the guy. But we battled.
"I told him we're tied up now and we're going to try to do this thing again but I'm going to celebrate this one tonight."
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