OAKLAND, Calif._In their nightmares the Cleveland Cavaliers will see Kevin Durant sprinting down the middle of the court and slamming down an uncontested dunk.
Durant unleashed the fury of nine years with no championships, with one lopsided NBA Finals appearance, on the rim over and over again.
The Warriors beat the Cavaliers 113-91 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at Oracle Arena. This game, the site of the Warriors' Game 7 humiliation to the Cavaliers last year, was supposed to be the first time the Warriors felt any real resistance this postseason. This game was supposed to be different from any of the others they'd played. Instead, this game felt like the start of a coronation for this reloaded superteam in Oakland.
Durant, their newest star, finished with 38 points, 30 points in the first three quarters, 23 in the first half. He also added 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Warriors guard Stephen Curry finished the game with 28 points. LeBron James had 19 first half points and finished with 28 overall.
When Durant joined the Golden State Warriors in free agency this summer, their rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers seemed inevitable.
They have become the modern-day Lakers and Celtics, who met six times in the Finals during the 1960s and three times during the 1980s. Never before now had two teams met in three consecutive Finals.
The Warriors won 4-2 in 2015 for the franchise's first championship in 40 years.
The Cavaliers won a seven-game series in 2016 after trailing 3-1 in the series. It was the first team to ever recover from a 3-1 deficit in the finals. It was the first championship for any Cleveland professional team in 53 years.
Then the Warriors, who had won 73 games in last year's regular season added a former league MVP in Durant.
The Warriors didn't lose a single game in the first three rounds of the playoffs, becoming the first team since the 2000-01 Lakers to enter the Finals undefeated. They were the first team in NBA history to begin the postseason 12-0, dispatching Portland, Utah and even San Antonio.
The Cavaliers dusted their opponents as well. Neither the Pacers, nor the Raptors nor the Celtics had a chance. Although Boston at least put up a fight, winning Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Cleveland.
Both teams entered Thursday's game with a week and a half of rest. Warriors Coach Steve Kerr watched from the locker room, unable to coach on the floor due to complications from a spinal injury that has sidelined him since the first round of the playoffs.
Durant and James matched each other in a feisty duel. Once during the first quarter, Durant toppled James as he blew by him, then drove in for a dunk. Warriors point guard Curry and Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving showed off their ball handling ability.
The Warriors didn't make a three-pointer until two minutes remained in the first quarter, and Klay Thompson remained cold. But Durant made sure that didn't matter. By the end of a hotly contested first quarter, the Warriors had 22 points in the paint to the Cavaliers' eight. They led Cleveland in second-chance points, too, 12-5. And they'd only turned the ball over one time.
The Warriors led 35-30 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter they extended that lead to eight.
In the third quarter they began treating the Cavaliers just like the teams they faced before them. Golden State led by as many as 24 points. Curry scored 14 third-quarter points with the help of four three-pointers.
It was all too much for the Cavaliers to overcome, at least for one day. They'll get two days off to decipher what happened, to try and do what no team has been able to do yet, before Game 2 tips off on Sunday.
