Volume 4: Golden State Prosperity

Golden State's Golden Age: Who Was the Boss? Many had lost to Curry, but none more miserably than James. In the series against the Celtics, James matched up with Durant. Over four games, Durant averaged an all-around 32 points, 7.5 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.3 steals on a 52.3% shooting percentage. Warriors fans had it much better. The Warriors' record and Curry's dominance gave them ample ammunition whenever they argued with others. Irving, meanwhile, had averaged 25+ points in the regular season and 25+ in the playoffs, performing even more clutchly in key moments. Yet when you looked through their posting histories, most of them turned out to be Cavaliers fans. In short, James could do no wrong. Whatever he did was right. No team was stupid. After being battered by the Warriors for years, they had all learned to play small, lighten their interior lineups, bulk up their wings, switch every screen, and make it difficult for motion offenses to generate open looks. In the playoffs, star isolation was still the most effective weapon. Unless your perimeter players were the Splash Brothers, forget about running an effective motion offense. But the Celtics ultimately lacked stars. Isaiah Thomas had looked like a god in the regular season, hailed as "the strongest 5'9" player on Earth," but once the playoff physicality ramped up, his performance dropped sharply. "Bronny, don't talk. This is championship business. You wouldn't understand even if we explained it to you." As the Warriors reached the Finals, their chances of repeating rose dramatically. Sportsbooks gave the Warriors extremely low odds to repeat, far ahead of the second-place Cavaliers and third-place Heat. James did not deliberately refuse to defend, but his defensive habits had never been particularly good. Even the All-Defensive-level defense he played in his prime had been