For Warriors, it's their title to lose

CLEVELAND – Sometimes, the Golden State Warriors are almost apologetic about their greatness. You sensed it early Saturday, when coach Steve Kerr sat for an interview, hair wet from a champagne celebration and wearing fresh clothes. Before he took questions, he praised the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the classy, obligatory gesture was most genuine near the end of his remarks.

"They had an amazing run," Kerr said of Cleveland. "Bottom line is, we've got a lot of talent, and we had more talent than they did, and talent wins in this league."

The Warriors didn't just sweep the Cavaliers to win back-to-back championships and their third title in four years. They turned the final 1½ quarters of Game 4 into what felt like a preseason game.

Their journey was substantially more difficult than it appeared, but we will remember the ease of the ending. The Warriors needed 103 games — 82 in the regular season, 21 in the playoffs — to finally perform their best. When they did it Friday night, the result was a 108-85 title clincher and more face-palming from Cleveland and every other team trying to catch them.

If the Warriors are off their game, they have four All-Stars and enough quality veterans to figure out a way. If they are locked in, they appear as invincible as any giant the NBA has ever produced. In the two years since Kevin Durant joined, the notion has only become more robust.

Even as the league starts to catch up, the Warriors have this ability to move the mile marker a little further than imagined. The Houston Rockets led 3-2 in the Western Conference finals, and even though Golden State needed some luck in the form of Chris Paul's hamstring injury to make a comeback, Houston was still capable of winning that series.

The Rockets' defensive game plan was strong. They led by double figures in Games 6 and 7. Still, the Warriors took their game to a place Houston could not go.

Still, they won it all.

"Definitely the toughest from the standpoint that it's the fourth year in a row that we've attempted to get back to the Finals," Kerr said. "I remember sitting in this room three years ago. It seemed like a dream. This feels more like reality. And I hope that doesn't sound arrogant. It's just that's the talent we have, and that's the experience we've gained.

"But it's a very different feeling. It's still euphoric, but three years ago was, 'I can't believe this happened,' and now it's, 'I can definitely believe this happened.' "

Windows can close quickly in the NBA, and creative team builders such as Houston's Daryl Morey won't stop obsessing over how to beat the Warriors. If Golden State thought this season was a challenge, it should wait to see what LeBron James puts together in free agency and how other teams respond with another year of maturity and roster development.

The rest of the NBA often tries to challenge Golden State's toughness, usually from a physical standpoint. And the Warriors keep proving they are more than pretty jump shooters. There's a mental component to toughness, too, and the Warriors are also strong there. They outlasted all their struggles played their best at the end.