CLEVELAND (AP) — One victory left for the Golden State Warriors to claim another title.
Not the one as NBA champions. The one as the best team ever.
Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and the rest of the Warriors will be able to make that boast if they win Friday to complete the most impressive postseason run in major sports history.
They moved to the brink of that with a 118-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Warriors are 15-0 and can finish off the NBA’sfirst perfect postseason with a victory here in Game 4.
Combine that with last year’s 73-win season, and a second title in three years — which could have easily been three consecutive championships — and foundation of the case has been made.
The Cavaliers are no match for these Warriors, not even with arguably the best player on the planet in LeBron James.
Golden State’s only competition is with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the Bulls, and other great teams from the past.
None won as dominantly as this team, which has four versatile All-Stars — including two former league MVPs — in their prime. These aptly named Warriors spent the last two months building big leads, then Wednesday wiped out a late deficit.
Some people may argue their greatness, but James won’t.
“It’s probably the most, most firepower I’ve played in my career,” James said. “I played against some great teams, but I don’t think no team has had this type of firepower. So even when you’re playing well, you got to play like A-plus plus, because they’re going to make runs and they’re going to make shots and they got guys that’s going to make plays.”
The NBA’s best postseason run is the 15-1 mark of the 2001 Lakers, while the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers went 12-1.
Jordan’s first title team in 1991 is one of three squads that went 15-2.
The Warriors thought they were carving out their place in history when they set a record with 73 wins last season.
But history turned to infamy when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Cavaliers, the biggest collapse in NBA Finals history.
They spoke openly of their desire to beat Jordan’s 72-win team in 1996, but this time have downplayed the importance of 16-0.