OAKLAND — Kevin Durant might’ve been the Warriors’ best player on Monday night, but Andre Iguodala made the game’s most important play.
For the first time at home in the series, Golden State got off to a slow start in Game 5. It was enough to make the crowd at Oracle palpably anxious, especially after stumbling in Game 4, and especially after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cavs last year. The fans were nervous, and the Warriors looked nervous too. Then Andre Iguodala did this, and everything changed.
No block this time pic.twitter.com/qJoK7lvx3U
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 13, 2017
Iguodala’s soaring tomahawk slam turned things around for Golden State, sparking the run that would ultimately decide both Game 5, and the NBA title. After Andre hammered the ball through the net, the Warriors went on a 22-4 run. By the time it was over, Golden State went from being down two with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter, to up 16 five minutes later. It’s a lead Golden State would never lose.
But it wasn’t just the dunk that signified Iguodala’s impact on Game 5. He finished tied (with Kevin Durant) with the second best plus-minus on the team at +18, in just 38 minutes on the floor. He shot 9-of-14, scored 20 points, and committed just a single turnover. He was also tasked with guarding LeBron James more than any other Warrior, as is customary, and was the only person that James was unable to attack with reckless abandon.
Referred to as the “adult in the room” by head coach Steve Kerr, the typically stoic Iguodala let loose when the Final whistle sounded, jumping on the scorer’s table and soaking up his second NBA title in three years.
“I’ve been so stressed the last like three, four weeks, and I told my wife right after the game, like, I’m so sorry, like it’s just been so stressful,” Iguodala said postgame. “Steve Kerr, he said it a few times during the game. He’s like, How does it feel to be the only adult on the court? And it’s stressful because it’s a hard job that goes unnoticed. You have to embrace it. It’s really just sacrificing to make sure everybody else is eating.”
Iguodala’s ability to sacrifice for the greater good has come to define his career. It seems, however, when the stakes are at their highest, the 13-year-veteran doesn’t hesitate to seize the moment.
“You want to look for yourself sometimes. Like you want to show people what you can do. And it just so happens that it’s always been perfect timing. I think that’s more of a blessing than anything else, is like when it’s time for me to be a little bit more selfless and show what I can do, like nights like this or the whole Finals in 2015, it just shows that there’s something powerful up there that I believe in that’s working.”
In 2015, Iguodala was named the Finals MVP. That was not the case in 2017, but on Monday night, he sure looked like one.