The Warriors got big games from Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins in the Game 3 win over Dallas, which gave them a commanding lead in the series. (2:41) Memorable is not the right word. It was painful, frustrating, and demoralizing. That is closer to how Draymond Green would describe the two seasons in between the Golden State Warriors last NBA Finals appearance in 2019. There is a memory from the past two seasons that keeps coming back. The team missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, but no one removed them from this space. Green has always been one of the most astute observers of the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title in 2020 while the Warriors stumbled to the worst record in the league because of injuries to Green, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. The Warriors were trying to groom their next generation of players to give their core another chance at reaching the biggest stage as the Milwaukee Bucks won the title last season. The Warriors have faced three teams in the playoffs that staked their claims on the NBA's future. No team or organization has been able to take over from the Warriors. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first round. They beat Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the playoffs, avenging their loss to them in the first round. In the conference finals, the Warriors have treated Luka Doncic the same way they treated James, acknowledging that he is going to score 40-plus points no matter what they throw at him. Green said of the All-Star, who scored 40 points Sunday but finished minus-19 in 40 minutes, that his time is now. His time is coming. He is a great player and he is going to be great for a long time. The Warriors limited everyone else in three out of four Finals against James. They held Doncic's teammates to 25% shooting from the field and 36% from 3. It is the third time in these playoffs that Doncic has scored 40 or more points in a loss, tied with James, Abdul-Jabbar and West. Much will be written about how the Warriors reinvented themselves to get back to this stage. Maybe the better question is whether they actually left it. Green told Youngmisuk that they didn't leave the space because they were too old to do it. Klay Thompson was out and then he was out again, so we left the space. And then Curry left. We didn't leave this space because we weren't able to be in the space anymore. One important figure from the Warriors dynasty Green was left out of the analysis. The guy who won back-to-back Finals Most Valuable Player awards in the last two years left as a free agent to play for the Brooklyn Nets. That could be an oversight on Green's part, or a subtle reminder that the Warriors won a championship in 2014-15 and a single-season record 73 games in 2015-16 before KD joined them. The Warriors style of play has been on full display. The Miami Heat lead the Boston Celtics, 2-1, with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line. You can watch the action on ABC. The fourth game of the series will be played on Mon., Heat at Celtics.
Game 5: Wed., Celtics at Heat (ESPN)
Game 6*: Fri., Heat at Celtics (ESPN)
Game 7*: May 29, Celtics at Heat (ESPN)
*If necessary
All games at 8:30 p.m. ET
The Warriors came to prominence by using their length, talent and intelligence to play suffocating defense and the NBA's most democratic, aesthetically pleasing offense.
They absolutely destroyed their opponents in the third quarter.
Golden State took a 48-47 halftime lead and went into the fourth quarter with a 78-68 cushion.
The Warriors have scored more points in the third quarter of this series than the Mavericks. That is on pace to be their best such differential in any series under Steve Kerr, better than the 9.7 points they scored against Houston in the third quarter of the conference finals.
The seven-game series was very close. Golden State has won its ninth straight win in the conference finals, dating back to that Game 7 win in Houston.
Curry said that winning one playoff series and returning to this stage is not motivation.
The motivation is that we're back on this stage with an opportunity to chase the Finals appearance after a two-year hiatus with our core and a new cast of characters.
The NBA playoffs run through June, when the league will crown a champion for its 75th season.
The Celtics defeated the Heat in the East finals.
• Heat survive Butler exit, earn win
• How Boston keeps bouncing back
• How vintage Butler took over Game 1
The Warriors defeated the Mavs in the West finals.
• Mavs' Doncic reflective after 40 in loss
• 'OMG WIGGS': Reaction to poster dunk
• The best version of Draymond Green
Scores, full schedule and more.
Nine straight wins in the conference finals share a throughline, despite the two-season gap in between. As the series wears on, the Warriors tend to get stronger, while at the same time exploiting their opponents' weaknesses.
The Mavericks lack of rim protection will be a point of emphasis for Dallas in the off-season, according to team sources.
The Warriors are shooting 72.6% on layups and dunks this series, which is the second-highest in a single series by any team since player tracking began.
They made 68.8% of their layups and dunks on Sunday. Doncic was the closest defender on 11 of those and he was a sieve, yielding 10 layups or dunks, including a tomahawk dunk on him.
The 11 layup attempts are tied for second most in a game in Doncic's career, and the 10 makes are the most he has allowed in any game.
That is both an expression of Doncic's individual issues on defense and the Warriors emphasis on forcing him to spend energy on that end of the floor.
Doncic said that after the season is over, he will look back and learn a lot. This is my first conference finals in the NBA.
The Warriors have been here many times before. The way they are playing now is like they never left.
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