Although just having commenced on May 31, the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals were on the brink of a quick finish, ending on the night of June 8. The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers have made the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year, setting history for the only pair of teams to accomplish such a feat throughout the aforementioned time span. In this particular encounter, the Golden State Warriors were named champions and solidified themselves as the next NBA dynasty, similar to that of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Below is a brief breakdown of the playoffs and the events that would crown the Warriors for the third time in four years with an NBA Championship.

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Stephen Curry and his sharpshooting Warriors faced, in the eyes of NBA analysts, much tougher competition in the Western Conference than the Cleveland Cavaliers faced in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors went on to face the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. This seven-game series was incredibly influenced by the loss of Rockets star guard, Chris Paul, in the final two games of the series due to injury, which ultimately gave Golden State a remarkable advantage.

“At this point, it has gotten kind of annoying. Seeing the same team continuously wipe out all the others over multiple years. The rest of the NBA has got to figure something out,” sophomore Brian Mena said.

The other side of the playoff bracket had a completely different array of team lineups arranged to it. Although the efforts contributed by LeBron James on the court cannot be undermined, it is essential to acknowledge that his opponents’ lack of experience allowed him to single-handedly carry his stripped down and new-look team to the NBA Finals.

With both teams carrying an incredible amount of momentum into the NBA Finals, it was certain that the fourth edition of the Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals would be eventful, despite the skepticism surrounding the weakness of the Cavaliers in comparison to previous years. Although the games were fairly close throughout the majority of each set of 48 minutes, the Warriors found themselves the victors of the first 4 games of the finals, sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in their home ground.

“After watching what went on in this series, you almost feel bad for LeBron, as crazy as it is to say. He had such a tough opponent and he didn’t get much help on either side of the court,” freshman Jose Gonzalez said.

The Golden State Warriors have made it very clear throughout the playoffs that their dominance comes after halftime, and they repetitively had offensive outbursts in the third and fourth quarters, overcoming even the grandest of deficits. While the Cavaliers surprised many with their competitiveness, their championship hopes dwindled down as they faced a 3-0 deficit. The last game of the NBA Finals displayed a general lack of energy and fire on the part of the Cleveland Cavaliers as they seemingly gave up and practically handed the Warriors a 23-point victory.

It is needless to say that LeBron James played a series for the ages, and from this perspective it is rather disappointing that his team did not have any success in the series. In game one, he carried the offense on his shoulders and scored 51 points. In game two, he sprayed 13 assists on the board and in game three, he scored a triple-double. The lack of support he has received from his teammates in these playoffs has led to the increasingly dividing question of whether he will leave Cleveland to join a championship team or remain loyal to his city.

Until that question can be definitely answered, be sure to tune into the NBA draft on June 21 and the rest of the off-season’s moves as the rest of the NBA looks for an answer to the Golden State Warriors’ conquest of the league.

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