By the time teams reached the Finals, there were naturally no weak opponents left.
Both the Warriors and the Nets boasted star-studded rosters, meticulously structured offense and defense, and elite core players.
Especially those core players.
Not only were they outstanding talents, but they also commanded enormous attention.
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Draymond Green... simply lining up those names was enough to conjure up a whole web of rivalries and grudges.
Judging by their record, the Nets Team had undoubtedly been the better side this season.
They had finished as the Eastern Conference First Seed and first in the league, then gone through the playoffs without losing three games in any series. That spoke volumes about their strength.
But looking at their history, the Nets Team's core players probably felt at least a little less confident when facing the Golden State Warriors.
After all, Durant and Harden had both suffered direct defeats at the hands of Curry and the Warriors.
Durant even had that bizarre chapter in his past when he had "bowed down to serve the enemy" and "ridden their coattails" to an NBA Championship.
Now, after "defecting from the village," he was facing them head-on again on the Finals stage.
Given how sensitive Durant could be, he probably had plenty of feelings about that.
Against this tangled backdrop, the thrilling showdown officially began.
June 2, Warriors versus Nets, G1.
The final score was 125–122.
The Brooklyn Nets scraped out a win by a slender three-point margin.
As expected, the very first game showed just how evenly matched the two sides were.
The biggest contributor to the Nets Team's G1 victory that night was former MVP and Rockets star James Harden, the man nicknamed "You're absolutely right."
Harden played a full 41 minutes,