The Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA Championship after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night. Golden State went on a 15-0 run in the second quarter to turn a deficit into a double-digit lead, and the Warriors never trailed from that point on. Kevin Durant was sensational, totaling 39 points, seven rebounds and five assists on his way to being named 2017 NBA Finals MVP. Stephen Curry added 34 points, six rebounds and 10 assists, while Andre Iguodala notched a 2017 postseason-high 20 points off the bench.

When the NBA Finals began, only one of the seven 2017 All-Stars involved in the series lacked a championship on their career resume. That all changed when Kevin Durant joined the club at the conclusion of Game 5 on Monday night, and he added a Finals MVP trophy to his collection to boot. In doing so, he joined Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to win at least four scoring titles and one NBA title.

With their season on the line, Cleveland came out of the gate with the desperation of a team facing elimination. They made six of their first seven shot attempts and took a 13-9 lead on back-to-back layups by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James off of consecutive Warriors’ turnovers. James would add a jumper at the 6:26 mark to increase the Cavaliers’ advantage to 20-12, but that would prove to equal Cleveland’s largest lead of the entire night. Trailing 30-25 with 2:17 remaining in the opening quarter, Stephen Curry and Patrick McCaw would combine for six consecutive free throws to put Golden State momentarily back in front, but a 5-0 Cavaliers’ run to close the frame would put the Dubs behind 37-33 at the end of one.

James provided the first two baskets of the second quarter to rebuild Cleveland’s eight-point advantage, but it would only dwindle from there. David West cut the deficit in half with consecutive scores, after which Andre Iguodala brought Golden State within two with a thunderous one-handed jam.


As the confetti rained down from the rafters, the Warriors embraced each other and raised the NBA Championship Trophy at center court amid raucous cheers from the Oracle Arena crowd. In winning Game 5, Golden State finished the 2017 postseason with a 16-1 (.941) mark, the best single-season winning percentage in NBA postseason history. Their average point differential of plus-13.5 points per game in the playoffs ranks as the second-best mark in NBA postseason history behind only the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks (plus-14.5). Kevin Durant was presented with the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Trophy after averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the series to join Magic Johnson and Moses Malone as the only players in NBA history to win Finals MVP in their first season with their team.


http://www.nba.com/warriors/gameday/20170612/recap