The Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics to win the NBA championship for the fourth time in eight and the first time since 2018.
The Warriors won 103-90 in game six in Boston to win the series 4-2.
Finishing the 2019-20 season with a disastrous 15-50 record, they are also the first team to go from the worst team in the league to the championship in two years.
Stephen Curry, the two-time most valuable player in the regular season, gets his first NBA Finals MVP.
The 34-year-old keeper averaged 31.2 points in six games and scored 34 points in Thursday’s win, adding seven assists and seven rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points and Jordan Poole 15 as Golden State won the NBA championship for the first time in 4 years.
They also won the title in 2015 and 2017, but lost the 2016 and 2019 finals before missing the playoffs for the past two seasons while rebuilding their roster.
Kevin Durant left the San Francisco-based franchise as a free agent in 2019, while Curry and Klay Thompson – who scored 12 points on Thursday – suffered injuries during the 2019-20 season.
The duo, along with key defensive player Draymond Green, have played a key role in their four title wins.
“We found a way to get the job done,” said Curry, who was picked for seventh overall by the Warriors in 2009, said.
“You always have doubts, but you know how long it takes to get back here because of how difficult it is to win at this level.”
The Celtics took a 14-2 lead after four minutes and 22-16 at the end of the first half before the Warriors continued their 21-0 run to take a 37-22 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
When Curry hit three three-pointers in the first six minutes of the third inning, Golden State took a 72-50 lead. he nodded and began to point at his ring finger.
“We’ve been building this for about 10 or 11 years and it means a lot when you get to this stage because you know how to win,” Curry said.
“Everybody who’s been a part of this knows what it is. This is bound to be different.”
‘Without Curry, this wouldn’t have happened’
Golden status beat the Dallas Mavericks to win the Western Conference and became the first team to reach the Finals six times in eight years since the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
Bulls led by Michael Jordan won six NBA titles from 1991-1998, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr have played in the last three wins.
“I’m so happy for Steph [Curry]”, Kerr said. To me, this is his crowning achievement in what is already an incredible career.
“I’m obviously very emotional for everyone in that room, and a lot of people have a hand in this, but the problem with Steph is, without him, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Curry’s precision from beyond the arc transformed the game and he broke the tournament’s all-time three-point record in December.
Players in every position are now supposed to be able to shoot – and watch out for – three pointers.
Curry is the seventh player to win at least four championships and two regular season MVPs, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Bill Russell.
