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Durant joins Jordan and Shaq for a slice of NBA Finals history

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant's superstar performances for the Golden State Warriors see him join the likes of Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal in NBA Finals history.

Durant's decision to join the Warriors from the Oklahoma City Thunder ahead of the season was met with acrimony from fans and pundits alike.

But as the Warriors sealed a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers - gaining revenge having collapsed from 3-1 up against the same opponents last year - Durant's switch has been vindicated.

Not only did he claim his maiden NBA championship, but Durant was named Finals MVP following a string of displays that left Stephen Curry and LeBron James in his shadow.

With the help of Opta, we take a look at some of the numbers behind the Warriors' second title in three years.

 

- Kevin Durant became just the sixth player to score 30+ points in every game in a NBA Finals series, after Elgin Baylor, Ricky Barry, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal (twice).

- His 35.2 points per game ranks as the 10th-highest in NBA Finals history. He is also the first player since LeBron James in 2014-15 to average 35+ in a NBA Finals.

- Golden State became the fifth team in NBA Finals history to score 129+ points multiple times in a single series, and the first to do so since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.

- The Warriors averaged 119.3 points per game throughout the playoffs. Since 1996, only three teams averaged at least 112.0 points throughout the playoffs – the 2016-17 Cleveland Cavaliers (116.2 in 18 games played), the 2013-14 Houston Rockets (112.0 in six games played) and the 2004-05 Phoenix Suns (112.0 in 15 games played).

- Golden State made 216 three-pointers in the postseason, the sixth-most in NBA history. They made 38.6 per cent of their threes, becoming the 13th team to make at least 38.5 per cent of their three-point attempts in a postseason (min. 300 3PAs).

- Stephen Curry averaged 4.2 three-pointers per playoff game, the fifth-most in NBA history among players who played at least four games in that year's playoffs. It is the third time he has averaged more than four three-pointers in a single postseason – no other player has done so more than once.

- In the regular season, the Warriors scored 120+ points 32 times, becoming the 15th team since the start of the 1986 regular season to score that many points 30-or-more times in a single season, and the first to do so in back-to-back seasons since the Phoenix Suns in 1988-89 and 1989-90 (the Warriors scored 120+ points 20 times last season).

- LeBron James became the first player ever to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals.

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