Up 3-1 Again, Warriors Need Kevin Durant to Finish Job He Was Hired to Do
OAKLAND, Calif. — It began with a phone call last June 19, an impassioned plea from Draymond Green to Kevin Durant, made from the arena parking lot just after the Golden State Warriors' crushing Game 7 defeat in the NBA Finals. "KD, we need you."
Or, you know, maybe it didn't.
"A hundred percent false," Durant said Sunday, contradicting his teammate's version of events. "No, he didn't make that call. Not right after the game."
Judging by Durant's expression (serious) and his tone (deadly serious), we might conclude Green embellished a bit when he relayed his parking-lot tale to ESPN's Zach Lowe last week. Or, perhaps Durant simply didn't want the story out there.
Really, the details are irrelevant now. It's the results that matter.
A year ago, the Warriors frittered away a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, lost the championship and chased the one free agent who could assure it would never happen again.
So here the Warriors are, back in Oakland with another 3-1 lead, trying to hold off LeBron James and the Cavaliers once again. Except this time, Durant is standing where Harrison Barnes once did.
This time, the Warriors head into Game 5 with four All-Stars and two MVPs and every confidence that a momentary hiccup will not give way to another full-scale meltdown. And wasn't that the whole point of recruiting Durant in the first place?
"Absolutely," Green said Sunday, before Durant spoke. "That was the vision, and he's made that vision clear."
Indeed, Durant's value has never been clearer. He's averaging more points than any player in the series (34.3 points per game) while shooting 52.3 percent from the field, 43.3 percent from three and 91.4 percent from the foul line, all while averaging 8.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists and guarding James.
Durant has been the Warriors' most consistent threat in the series—delivering on every promise made last July, or June, or whenever he and Green first spoke.
"This is the climax of pursuing a once-in-a-generational player like Kevin Durant," Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said.
It's not that the Warriors weren't capable of beating Cleveland with the stars they had. Indeed, they might have won a second straight title last June if not for Green's Game 5 suspension, Andrew Bogut's series-ending knee injury and Stephen Curry's general lack of pop, due in part to his own health concerns.
But that's the thing about championships—they often come down to happenstance. A twisted ankle, a blown call, a botched play, a shot that lands just an inch to the left. Green did get suspended (for exceeding the flagrant foul limit), Bogut did wrench his knee and Curry did falter when the Warriors needed him most, shooting 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) over the final three games of the 2016 Finals.
At this level, the margin for error is slim. You obtain a Kevin Durant to expand that margin.
And if you're Durant, you make the move to put yourself in exactly this position.
This is the moment they all had in mind when they struck this partnership last summer. Another June, another Finals lead, another chance to secure legacies—except this time with a four-time scoring champion leading the way, ready to put the Warriors on his slender shoulders.
And they do need him, by the way. That much should be clear. Witness Friday's Game 4, when the Cavaliers saved their season in a 137-116 rout. The Warriors lost mostly because of dreadful defense, but they also fell behind early because Curry wasn't himself, missing six of his seven shots in the first half. He finished the night with 14 points—his lowest output since Feb. 15.
Yet the Warriors offense kept humming, thanks to Durant, who scored 35 points (albeit on 9-of-22 shooting, his least efficient performance of the playoffs). Klay Thompson suffered through a shooting slump in Game 1, and Green had a rough Game 3. Of the Warriors' stars, Durant has been the most reliable, scoring at least 31 points in each game of the Finals.
"He's been the KD that we expected him to be," Curry said, "and even greater. So it's been great."
While some fans and pundits will forever deride Durant as a bandwagon hopper if Golden State wins the title, the Warriors know they wouldn't be on this precipice without him.
Then again, the team with two MVPs is supposed to win it all—which is why the Cavs' Richard Jefferson, in a statement designed to needle the talent-stacked Warriors, said all the pressure is on Golden State, despite the 3-1 edge.
"It's not on us," Jefferson said. "Where is the pressure on us? They had a 73-win team and they added a former MVP. We added Kyle Korver and Deron Williams."
He continued, "There's no pressure on us. … It's been about them proving that last year was a fluke, KD validating the move here, which it's been validated. But no, we feel very comfortable."
Not that Durant was in any mood to indulge this narrative, or any others. He's been a reticent interview throughout the Finals, steadfastly guarding his thoughts and emotions as he closes in on his first possible championship.
"I'm just trying to stay where we are, stay locked in in this moment," Durant said. "We don't talk about, 'This is why they needed me.' … No, we just continue to come out and play our game, continue to do what we have been doing since day one in training camp, and looking forward to going out there [Monday] and having some fun. That's the only thing that matters."
Howard Beck covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and B/R Mag. He also co-hosts The Full 48 podcast, available on iTunes. Follow him on Twitter, @HowardBeck.
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