Warriors superstar Stephen Curry sat with a defeated look on the opposite end of the court. With his head hunched over — Curry could only watch as his splash brother Klay Thompson got up and went to the locker room in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals versus the Raptors. 

The Warriors season would end and the historical five-year dynasty would come to a close. Many wondered if this would be the last time fans would see the Warriors competing for titles. After all, Curry is only getting older, Thompson would suffer two of the worst injuries an athlete could get in back to back years and Warriors forward Draymond Green seemed to be declining in production. 

Two years later, the Warriors bounced back and are now back in the NBA Finals once again. It took a season of 15 wins and getting knocked out of the play-in tournament last season — but the Warriors silenced the critics and clawed all the way back. But the journey isn’t done yet. 

“The feeling of leaving the 2019 Finals and realizing that we’ve been on an amazing journey and got hit with a lot of adversity and some speed bumps, but never lost the faith that we can get back here,” Curry said. “It’s a fine line of reflecting and celebrating this moment for sure because you can’t take it for granted.” 

The Warriors fueled the offense with a steady diet of ball movement and cashing in on great looks. The home team controlled the game for the most part — though the Mavericks gave Warriors fans a nervous scare as they attempted to come back in the second half. 

The Warriors answered the Mavericks' run by coming out with a run of their own when Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins drove baseline for a two-handed jam to start the fourth quarter. Then, off the pick and roll action, Green cut the basket and converted on a layup, — extending the Warriors lead to 14 and they never looked back. 

The aforementioned Thompson played a complete game in Game 5 — as he contributed with 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting and went 8-for-16 from 3-point range. Throughout the series, Thompson would get off to slow starts and find his rhythm as the game went on, but in Game 5, he was locked in.

“I’m satisfied with Game 6 Klay,” Thompson said. “I don’t need another nickname. It’s nice to not have to bring him out.” 

It was a vintage game for Thompson as he was able to find the cracks in the Mavericks defense and continued to move without the ball to get his shots. Thompson even brought out the shimmy after he made a tough 3-pointer drifting to his left in the middle of the second quarter.

Warriors forward Kevon Looney continued his steady playoff run with 10 points and 18 rebounds. The Warriors as a team would dominate the glass 51-34. Each team that won the rebounding battle won the game in this series — and it was easy to see why the Warriors had the edge in that category.

The Warriors were able to control the pace of the game — and Green had much to do with the cause. Green had one of his best playoff games in this run after he finished with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. 

“No one proved that they could beat us when we’re whole,” Green said. “And that’s still the case.” 

As for the newly minted Western Conference Finals MVP — Curry had a solid game of 15 points and nine assists. Curry tweaked his ankle early in the first quarter but managed to work himself into a solid outing. Curry won the WCF MVP award with averages of 23.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists. 

The Warriors wait on the winner of the Heat and Celtics series and the NBA Finals starts on June 2.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)