Kevin Durant on Sweeping Cavs: 'We Don't Want to Play with the Gods Like That'
Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant said the reigning champions are focused on sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals on Friday night after failing to clinch the title in the same situation last year.
Durant told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that the Dubs don't want to give the Cavs, who came back from 3-1 down to beat them in the 2016 Finals, any thoughts of another comeback.
"We don't want to play with the gods like that," Durant said after Wednesday's 110-102 win. "We want to come out here and play our best game and just respect the game. Everybody has that mindset. I'm not worried about that. We want to come out, respect the game and try to win this thing."
Durant put together perhaps the most important performance of his career in Game 3. He connected on 15 of 23 shots from the field, including six of nine from beyond the arc, en route to a stat line that included 43 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
The 29-year-old reigning NBA Finals MVP almost single-handedly carried the Warriors to what's likely an insurmountable 3-0 lead, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all struggling at the offensive end at Quicken Loans Arena.
Although it was a Finals performance for the ages, Durant has already shifted his attention to Game 4. He's expecting an early push from the Cavs at home.
"They are going to come out with a flurry," he told Spears. "The crowd is going to be into it. LeBron [James] is going to try to will them to victory. Rodney Hood played great [Wednesday night], so he is going to build off of that."
A victory Friday night would give Golden State its third championship in the past four years, and the Dubs would become the first team to sweep the Finals since James and the Cavaliers dropped four straight to the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.
