SAN FRANCISCO — With a little over three minutes to go in the Western Conference Finals, Klay Thompson had a pull-up jumper in the lane rejected by Spencer Dinwiddie. No worries—Thompson finagled the rebound and immediately found himself at the elbow, where he rose up for another two. No dice—he air balled it. Kevon Looney scooped up the rebound—one of his 18—as Thompson re-positioned himself to the right corner. The ball found its way back to Klay, and this time he sank a three, his eighth of the game. And the Mavs’ comeback that had the faintest glimmer of hope had finally been extinguished. The Warriors took a 15-point lead and punched their ticket back to the NBA Finals.
That sequence from Klay, and perhaps his whole season, is a microcosm of this Golden State team. A little battered and worse for the wear. Not quite as straight shooting. Fallible. But when the stakes are the highest, a team that clearly still has championship-level talent.
The Warriors are headed back to the Finals for the sixth time in eight years, a feat last accomplished by Jordan’s Bulls. This is not the scariest version of this team we’ve ever seen. This isn’t a 73-win juggernaut. This isn’t the Kevin Durant-ruined-the-NBA-level destroyer. It’s an older, creakier group. Yet it’s still one that can go toe-to-toe with whichever upstart dares to challenge them. In this playoff run alone the Dubs have left a two-time MVP in Nikola Jokić and two rising stars in Ja Morant and Luka Dončić in their wake. It’s not just an old guy that’s still got it. It’s an old team.
