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Warriors tune out 16-0 talk, focus on Cavs
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SO focused are the Golden State Warriors on not repeating the mistakes that cost them last year’s NBA Finals that they have not even discussed their shot at becoming the first team to go undefeated through the playoffs.
The Warriors are in command of their NBA Finals clash with the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning the first two games of the best-of-7 series and are suddenly standing on the brink of history as the first team to go 16-0 in the playoffs.
“We want 15-0. That’s what we want. We literally have never once mentioned 16-0,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Tuesday. “To me it’s a miracle that it’s even a possibility. It’s so hard to do.”
“But we are here, we’re more focused on what happened last year like in terms of we were up 2-0 and we came here and the series shifted. That’s the important lesson, not any historical benchmarks or anything like that.”
Golden State held an identical series lead in 2016 when the championship series shifted to Cleveland but split the two games there and then went on to become the first team to lose an NBA Finals after building a 3-1 advantage.
But that Warriors team, which posted a record 73 wins in the 2015-16 season, was not as dangerous as the current squad due to the addition of four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant to an already formidable lineup.
With Durant, the Warriors reached the NBA Finals a perfect 12-0 in the postseason after sweeping each of the previous three rounds and then found another gear against the Cavaliers.
But the Warriors refuse to get ahead of themselves after having lost the third game in each of the last two NBA Finals, both in Cleveland, and know they will have to snap that streak to even give them a shot at going 16-0 in the postseason.
The Cavaliers, who have been no match for the fast-paced Warriors through the first two games, however, insist they have no desire to slow things down in Game 3.
“That’s not our game. We don’t play slowdown basketball,” Cavaliers forward LeBron James said. “We play at our pace. We play our game. We got to this point playing our way.”
James, the most prolific scorer in NBA playoff history, said he was content with the more physical effort his team showed in the second game of the series and that the Cavaliers’ game-plan, if executed for 48 minutes, gives them a chance to win.
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