CALIFORNIA REIGN

Forty. There’s a number with a Biblical ring to it.

Forty days and forty nights of rain while Noah (and the lovely Mrs. Noah) sailed the Ark. Forty years of wandering in the desert for the freed Hebrew slaves of Egypt.

And now, 40 years after their last championship, the Golden State Warriors have won another NBA title. No wonder so many of their players kept saying, “We’ll remember this moment.” There’s no telling when the next will come.

The Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Cleveland on Tuesday night to close out the NBA Finals in six games. Andre Iguodala, who started only the last three games of this series, was named the MVP. He’s the first MVP who did not start every game of the NBA Finals. He scored 25 points on Tuesday night and earned accolades for his defensive efforts against LeBron James.

“It takes every guy who steps on the floor,” said Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who also scored 25 points. “Andre stepped up to that challenge every single night.”

James led the depleted Cavs with 32 points.

This marked the fifth consecutive season James had played in the NBA Finals, the last four (two ending in titles) with the Miami Heat. He only burnished his reputation as the game’s best player, carrying a team missing two other key starters (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love).

You hate to say “wait until next year” to Cleveland, a city without a championship in a major sport since the 1964 Browns won the NFL title. But oddsmakers have already installed the Cavs as a 9-4 favorite to win next year’s NBA crown.

To every team there is a season. This season, however, that honor belonged to the Warriors.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman.