Warriors have quick turnaround for Finals

OAKLAND >> The charcoal ball cap commemorating his team’s Weste Conference championship was flipped backward on his head and he wore a black leather biker jacket.

His expression betrayed neither relief nor exhaustion, although either would be understandable or, even, expected.

For a guy who just weathered the toughest series of his career, Steph Curry looked remarkably cool. Especially considering the test that awaits his team in just a few days.

The Golden State Warriors became the 10th team in NBA playoff history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit with Monday’s Game 7 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. But that historic clash left the Warriors with only two days to prepare for a repeat matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, which start Thursday.

“I told every single one of my teammates when I saw them in the locker room, ‘Embrace this accomplishment, this moment,’” Curry said, “because of how hard it is to get back here.”

In the six weeks since the end of the Warriors’ 73-win regular season, Golden State has endured a rocky road back to the Finals. Curry missed six games in the first two rounds and a semifinal matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers proved a tougher-than-expected test.

With the seven-game marathon against the Thunder, the Warriors are significantly more tested and tired than a year ago, when they lost just three games through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

The tuaround from a seven-game series to the Finals is a new challenge for the Warriors.

“This is our first time doing it,” Curry said, “so we’ll figure it out. We’ve got to just refresh and obviously get our bodies ready.”

Curry has averaged 26.7 points in 11 postseason games and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson has been right on his heels at 26.2.

This year, Cleveland enjoyed the spoils of conference playoff domination. The Cavs swept the first two rounds and dispatched Toronto in six games to advance out of the Easte Conference finals.

Thompson dismissed the notion the easier path gives Cleveland any meaningful advantage.

“This is what you play for to reach every single year,” Thompson said. “You don’t come in saying, ‘Oh, they’ve had more rest than us, we’re doomed.’ No, we’ll be just fine. Fight through it.”

The Cavaliers won 57 games to ea the East’s top seed. LeBron James has reached the Finals six consecutive seasons and won titles in 2012 and ’13 with the Miami Heat, but is looking for his first ring since retuing to Cleveland.

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The Warriors consider it their job to make sure that doesn’t happen and they will lean on the experience of the conference finals to guide them.

“Know that it’s going to be a totally different team, different game plan, different X’s and O’s,” Curry said. “But the mindset that we have going into each game, I think the way this series went from Game 1 to Game 7, we’re ready for anything.”