Warriors one win away from NBA title after a not-so-smooth season by Golden State standards

CLEVELAND — The Warriors entered Friday night’s Game 4 on the verge of sweeping the Cavaliers out of the NBA Finals and winning their third title in four years — all against Cleveland. But it hasn’t been as easy as it seems, certainly not by Golden State standards.

They lost as many games in the regular season (24) as the previous two years combined. They lost their stars to injuries for long stretches and were pushed to the brink by the Rockets in the Western Conference finals.

Yet there they were at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday with a chance to put away the Cavaliers in Game 4 of the Finals and perhaps end LeBron James’ second tour in Cleveland. Everything the Warriors went through ultimately made them stronger.

“Going into this season, I don’t think anybody could have guessed or predicted the ups and downs and the roller-coaster we’ve been on,” Stephen Curry said. “I think for us to do what we did in the conference finals and win a Game 7 on the road, we had never done that before. And now to be one game away, it’s been a crazy ride. So now we’ve just got to finish the job.”

No one is feeling sorry for the star-studded Warriors and all that they went through this season to get to this point.

They’ve lost one playoff series in the last four years, won an NBA-record 73 games two years ago and were 16-1 in the postseason last year. Rival teams probably are rooting for some Golden State adversity, and they got some, but it didn’t slow the Warriors.

Curry missed 31 games in the regular season and the first seven of the playoffs. Kevin Durant sat out 14 games, Draymond Green missed 12 and Klay Thompson was sidelined for nine. The Warriors ended the season by losing 10 of their final 17 games — two years after losing only nine all season.

They were down by 17 and 15 against the Rockets in Games 6 and 7 of the West finals, but their championship mettle won out. Had Chris Paul not missed the final two games with a hamstring injury, though, it might have been a different ending.

The Warriors also trailed Cleveland by double digits in Games 1 and 3 and again were able to win. The Warriors never seem to get rattled. Their rocky regular season — relatively speaking — and everything they’ve experienced throughout this four-year run have prepared them for that.

“I think it’s been our most inconsistent season,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s been our most difficult season. But our guys sense the finish line, and they turned it on right from the beginning of the playoffs defensively.

“I think the last few years have shown up in terms of our experience in these Finals. I remember our first year in 2015, it just seemed chaotic. It seemed so up and down. Now it seems more businesslike. We seem more poised. In the overtime in Game 1, we executed in those five minutes. We executed beautifully in Game 3 to finish the game. I feel like the experience we’ve gained has helped us dramatically. It just feels more natural now.”

Most teams would sign up for 58 wins and being on the brink of a championship. The Warriors’ run of success has teams such as the Rockets gunning for them and trying to assemble a team that can knock off Golden State.

James could leave Cleveland to form such a team, because he hasn’t been able to beat Golden State since Durant joined the Warriors. But even in the position he’s in, he appreciates what the Warriors have done this season.

“At the end of the day, you can never count out a champion, no matter what’s going on in the course of their season,” James said. “It’s impossible to do that, because they’re built from a different cloth, and I know that firsthand.

“When you win a championship and you’re around guys for a long period of time, and you know what you’re capable of doing, all you need is to get healthy. If you can get healthy and guys are playing at the right level at the same time, then you can feel like you can beat anybody.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.