Kevin Durant talks about his experience playing Cavs, Kyrie in 2017 NBA Finals

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant said his team had to give the Cleveland Cavaliers their best effort in the 2017 NBA Finals.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers clashed with the Golden State Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals, the third time in as many years that the two teams went head-to-head on the game’s greatest stage, Warriors forward Kevin Durant was the star of the show.

Not three-time Finals MVP LeBron James. Not two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.

Durant, who had won an NBA MVP award following the 2013-2014 season after finishing second to James in the two seasons prior. Who led his young and hungry Oklahoma City Thunder squad to the 2012 NBA Finals (where he lost to James’ Miami Heat in five games).

With averages of 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.6 blocks per game on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 47.4 percent shooting from three-point range, Durant was literally unstoppable. He and the Dubs’ bench were the only ones to shoot above 44.0 percent from the field and though Curry averaged a cool 26.8 points per game that series, it was simply Durant’s team in that series.

He even managed to outplay James, who became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals with averages of 33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game. The King also tacked on 1.4 steals and 1.0 block per game while shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.

Against the Warriors from the 2015 and 2016 NBA Finals, such a stat line may have been enough to lead the Cavs to victory. It would have at least got them past five games.

Especially with Kyrie Irving averaging 29.4 points, 4.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range.

A series that showed Durant that Irving was “a king hooper“, according to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons (expletive censored by me):

"That’s how talented Kyrie Irving [is]—he made me a believer last year. I liked Kyrie, but when we played against him, I’m like, “Oh s—. This guy is a king hooper.”"

Indeed, Durant realized in that series he couldn’t dilly-dally with the Cavs. Two of their victories, including the series-clincher in Game 5, were decided by a single-digit point differential.

Kevin Love showed marked improvement on both ends, averaging 16.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.0 block per game while shooting 38.7 percent from three-point range. A bit more efficiency from Love, who shot 38.8 percent from the field, and the series could have went to Game 7.

One player on the Cavs bench shot above 40.0 percent from the field (Richard Jefferson) and none shot above 32.0 percent from three. A little help from them would have went a long way too.

As Durant said to Simmons, there was no playing 24 minutes a game against the Cavs. They had to give their all for the whole 48 (expletive censored by me):

"Do you know how hard it is to play against LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love? We couldn’t bull—- with them dudes, man. We could not. They’re too good. They’re too good to come in the game and not try to win; we couldn’t come in and say, “Alright, we’ll play in the second quarter, third quarter and win.” We couldn’t do it against those three, and the rest of the guys they had. [Iman] Shumpert was in there, Kyle Korver. We had to be on point with those dudes. If we weren’t, we were going to lose the game."

Although Irving was traded in the offseason, he still put the world on notice with his play in Beantown. Without Gordon Hayward, an All-Star caliber forward, Irving led the Celtics to the top-seed in the East before they were usurped by the Toronto Raptors.

Irving is currently rehabilitating after knee surgery but in 60 games with the Celtics, he’s averaged 24.4 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game (27.6 points per game per 36 minutes).

Irving has also been absurdly efficient, shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three-point range.

Many scoffed at the notion Irving would be successful without James but he proved to them what he proved to Durant.

He’s a baaaad boy on the hardwood.

Irving will go down as one of the top players in Cavs history, along with James, Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Zydrunas Ilgauskus (if he can remain healthy and avoid being traded, Love will be one of the top six players in team history).

He finished his Cavs career 2nd in PER (21.3); 3rd in points per game (21.6) and free-throw percent (87.3); 4th in box plus-minus (2.9); 6th in assists (2,114) and value over replacement player (16.2); 7th in win shares per 48 minutes (.149); 8th in field goals made (3,009) and points (8,232); and 9th in steals (504), steals per game (1.3) and assists per game (5.5).

As for the Cavaliers, they’re still favorites to represent the East in the NBA Finals but it’s no longer a foregone conclusion like it was in the days where Uncle Drew was draped in wine and gold.

Love has entered Irving’s role as a second in command while Rodney Hood tries to become the tertiary volume scorer and secondary perimeter playmaker the Cavs need him to be.

There isn’t as much on-court flair with this iteration of the Cavs outside of James. Nonetheless, there’s better defense, better length, better athletes and a better bench.

In fact, there’s even a better LeBron.

If the Warriors, who are currently without their Big 4, meet the Cavs in the Finals again, they’ll need to bring their A-game. Again.

Or else the Cavaliers and Warriors could be 2-2 in NBA Finals matchups.

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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com