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NBA Shootaround: Warriors-Cavaliers rematch is set after Kevin Durant leads Golden State past Rockets, Nick Young is ready to turn up

The Warriors are headed to the NBA Finals for a fourth straight championship battle with the Cavaliers.

Warriors forward Kevin Durant helped spark a dominant third quarter for the Warriors in Game 7.
Warriors forward Kevin Durant helped spark a dominant third quarter for the Warriors in Game 7.Read moreDAVID J. PHILLIP / AP
    by Sarah Todd
    Published 

The holiday weekend is over and the NBA Finals are set — LeBron vs. Golden State.

The Rockets, who very publicly built their team to beat the Warriors, didn't beat the Warriors.

It looked like Houston was on its way to a Game 7 win at home on Monday night. Even with Chris Paul still sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Rockets had 54-43 lead at half-time and Golden State looked completely out of sorts on both ends of the floor.

This is how the first half ended:

The Warriors allowed Eric Gordon to go 94 feet and get a buzzer-beating layup on the way into intermission.

Then the third quarter happened as it often does for Golden State.

Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson let loose and Kevin Durant followed suit. Meanwhile on the other end the Rockets set an NBA record for the most consecutive missed three-pointers in playoff history (27).

Durant led the way with 34 points and combined with Curry and Thompson for 80 of the Warriors points in the 101-92 victory.

Once Curry broke out of his funk of the first half, there was no shortage of highlights.

Nick Young, who scored three points in the win, was very happy to have a hat and was in no mood for words. Swagy P just wanted to "turn up."

This all came one night after LeBron James carried the Cavaliers to a Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics. It will be James' 8th consecutive trip to the Finals, and the 4th consecutive Finals matchup between the Cavs and the Warriors.

The Cavaliers, are heading into the Finals as the underdog, as they have in each of the last three years. Though the Warriors won the 2015 and 2017 championships, James proved in 2016 that even with the underdog team he can lead the Cavaliers to victory.

With such a strange season the Cavaliers have been playing as the underdog throughout this postseason. After playing the entirety of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals and putting the team on his back, James received some praise from Sixers' star Joel Embiid.

For context, James has played 235 playoff games, amassed the most minutes played by any player in NBA playoff history (9,870), and is currently averaging 34 points, 9.2 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and doing it with little-to-no rest while shooting 54.2 percent from the field.

The Finals start on Thursday at 9 p.m. on ABC.