Here we are, a week away from the NBA Finals, and two teams have yet to lose. And who are they? The same two teams everybody would have predicted to be undefeated heading into the Finals before the season even started.
And it's not just that the Cavaliers and Warriors are undefeated -- it's that they're not even being tested. Outside of a handful of games, both teams have been consistently blowing out their opponents, and now in the Conference finals, when things are supposed to get tough, it seems to be getting worse.
After the Warriors' latest blowout, a 120-108 beatdown of the Spurs in Game 3 that wasn't as close as the final score, Kevin Durant was asked about fans who feel the playoffs are getting boring due to all the lopsided scores. He had a simple message for them: Don't like it? Don't watch.
“Fans want to see a buzzer-beater every game. It’s not like that sometimes. … If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” -- Kevin Durant
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 21, 2017
Kevin Durant on the amount of blowouts this postseason: "If you don't like it, don't watch it." pic.twitter.com/WaqGEt93k5
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) May 21, 2017
On one hand, Durant is right. Fans who expect to see buzzer-beaters every game are probably in for a rude awakening. But maybe ONE buzzer-beater would be nice. Or maybe a game that's somewhat close by the start of the fourth quarter?
Since Kawhi Leonard went down with an injury in Game 1, we haven't seen that from either the Cavs or Warriors in the Conference finals. Not that any of this the fault of Durant, or the other Warriors or Cavs. They're simply the best teams who perhaps got the most fortunate playoff draws, and they're beating the pants off of people.
As for Durant's advice, fans are surely taking him up on the offer to change the channel from the constant blowouts. If the Finals end up being as epic as their being set up to be, however, nobody will really remember the uninspiring earlier rounds.