The Golden State Warriors returned tickets to the NBA Finals on Thursday, destroying the Mavericks with a Game 5 victory. With the conference title closed, Warriors star Stephen Curry became the first winner of the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP. Funnily enough, this is the first final MVP award of Curry’s career.
In the Warriors’ 4-1 series win over Dallas, Curry led the team with 23.8 points and 7.4 assists with 6.6 rebounds per game. Curry was far from the dominant force in the previous Western Conference finals. Yet, it is a growing admiration for Steve’s greatness that he remains the best player in the conference champion as well as his own less productive version.
In an interview with TNT’s Ernie Johnson after winning the award, Curry said, “We know this is not the end goal, but we have to celebrate it.” Curry conceded that the team’s ultimate goal of winning the title is still four wins away. However, it is a worrying few years for the franchise that once destroyed the rest of the league. They will have about a week to rest before returning to the court for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, ending the Mavericks in five games.
