Warriors clinched the championship with a signature run

Wrote about the 28–4 run that clinched the Warriors’ second title in three years. An excerpt:

It’s fitting that the final game of the 2017 NBA season was ultimately decided by what always seems to decide Golden State Warriors games. No team in the NBA goes on demoralizing runs quite like the Warriors, and they busted out one for the ages to change the course of Game 5.

With 10:14 to go in the second quarter, Deron Williams pushed the ball up the floor after a missed shot. He found LeBron James streaking down the right wing, and LeBron threw down a monster dunk (while getting hit in the head by Kevin Durant), forcing Steve Kerr to call a timeout to talk to his troops. That dunk pushed the Cavaliers’ lead to eight points, at 41–33. A few days after the Cavs had poured in 49 first-quarter points, they were lighting up the Warriors defense yet again.

Just over seven minutes later (7:06, to be exact), Stephen Curry knocked down a technical foul free throw after a scuffle between David West and Tristan Thompson. In between the dunk and the free throw, the Warriors rampaged up and down the floor with a 28–4 run, erasing the entirety of the eight-point deficit and building a 16-point lead that ultimately proved insurmountable.

Read the full story at The Step Back.