Last season Game 5 was truly the turning point for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they went on to achieve greatness and made history with a monumental comeback. However, they couldn’t pull off another record-breaking performance this time around. The final reckoning was a 129-120 scoreline to the Warriors. It was a tough and tight contest through out.

This title win was all about Kevin Durant, though, who in his 10th season in the NBA set some records straight as he got his hands on the trophy he’s craved and had came close to winning in 2012. Durant was heartbroken after that loss to the Miami Heat when he was still at the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then had to struggle with another gut punch of a defeat by the Golden State Warriors in 2016 in the Western Conference Finals. His move to the Warriors has paid dividends in his first year with the team. His Finals record reads: played five, scored 176 points. He averaged 30+ points throughout the Finals. Game 1 – 38 points, Game 2 – 33, Game 3 – 31, Game 4 – 35 and Game 5 – 39. Cleveland had no response to his onslaught of point-scoring. He was rightly awarded the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award as the 2017 NBA Finals MVP.

In the first quarter of this contest both Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant were in early foul trouble with two fouls apiece. The Cavaliers made the most of that as the two Warriors sat out the majority of the quarter. They ended the first frame 37-33 up. Durant and the rest of the team then started the fightback in the second quarter as they went on a 21-2 run. The Warriors eventually outscored the Cavaliers 38-23 in the second quarter, LeBron James and Kevin Durant were tied at 21 points each as Golden State led 71-60 at halftime.

The third quarter was a classic Cleveland Cavaliers contest as they cut the Warriors’ advantage to just four points with a little over 3.5 minutes left. Then Durant hit a pressure-releasing 3-pointer and the momentum swung back the Warriors’ way. They held a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter. In the final frame Durant’s class shone through, as did that of his teammates. Stephen Curry had totaled 25 points going into the final frame and the bench contributed 28 with Andre Iguodala’s 13-point contribution key up to that point.

The fourth quarter was a masterclass in keeping calm under pressure as the Cavaliers threw everything at the Dubs. However, it wasn’t to be for Cleveland this time around, eventually losing the game by nine points as they couldn’t replicate the comeback of 2016. The Warriors saw Klay Thompson score 11 points to go with Curry’s 34-point 10-rebound double-double. Iguodala weighed in with 20 points and Draymond Green doubled up with 10 points and 12 boards.

Cleveland will look back at the three games they lost early on in the Finals as the reason for missing out on retaining their title. LeBron James was immense as usual, scoring 41 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Kyrie Irving added 26 points to the team total. JR Smith was phenomenal with 25 points, Tristan Thompson showed up with 15 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Love scored just six points but pulled down 10 boards.

This was a team triumph for Steve Kerr’s men as a slew of players won their first NBA titles. Veterans Matt Barnes, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia and David West now all have the ring their stellar careers had been missing as they too made telling contributions along the way. Young players like Patrick McCaw, Ian Clark and James Michael McAdoo will also celebrate all night long after this Finals success. But the man of the occasion, Kevin Durant, will cherish the Bill Russell award he received for being named Finals MVP as it will serve to banish his demons and silence the doubters.

By Cyrus Rogers