After a breathtaking win against the Houston Rockets the night before, the Golden State Warriors went down 23-3 in the first seven minutes of the game. The Warriors of years previous are rather good at losing not by a little when it does happen but by a lot, and quickly. As the Spurs run ran up and through them, it felt as familiar as the blowouts they suffered in Oklahoma City and Cleveland last postseason. Then instead of digging themselves out by canning impossible 3s in ridiculously short-spanned flash runs, the Warriors reverted back to the team that won the title two seasons ago. They slowly outplayed the opposing bench with a methodical passing attack, locked down the Spurs with a defense that wrecked havoc despite any lineup, and watched the two-time MVP put on a show.

Slowly but surely, the Warriors have had to force themselves to reach this level of play. The margin of error is still higher than any team on the planet but the fact they don’t feel that way anymore helps the focus and style of play. Gone are the dagger attempts midway through the first quarter up 3. Long gone are the sloppy defensive efforts that last an entire half or a game. For the past few weeks without Kevin Durant after the initial adjustment, they’ve played like a team that was an underdog.

Last year’s team played like a champion knowing they were better than everyone. They needed to not only show you they’re the greatest but embarrass your entire ancestral lineage in the process. There was less joy in the perfection of the game but more in flaunting their greatness in front of the entire world at every given moment. The team leading up to the championship stepped on the court unsure whether they were the best, having to prove themselves to the other team, to the Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Every mistake felt like life and death. Every defensive possession ratcheted up with the intensity of a Game 7 moment.

On Wednesday night, the Warriors having lost twice to the San Antonio Spurs and blown out once with Kevin Durant, felt like the team that had to prove themselves to Kawhi Leonard and Gregg Popovich. The 110-98 victory started with a rattled team unsure of itself.

Then it settled itself as Andre Iguodala, Finals MVP of that pre-championship team, nailed jumper after jumper and steadied the bench with a 14 point, 6 rebound, +17 effort. All while completely suffocating Kawhi Leonard into a 7-20, 5 TO effort. But he wasn’t the star off the bench between the two best backup units in the entire NBA. David West played the revenge game role with a Draymond Green-esque 15-5-4 effort capped off by a block at the rim of David Lee and a three in the corner to cap off the win. There was Klay Thompson’s hot shooting (9-16 for 23 points) to sustain the bench runs and Draymond’s defense in key moments to cement his DPOY award.

And in the middle of it all, as it always and forever will be, was Stephen Curry’s shooting and playmaking. The darting dribble drives past Pau Gasol to the rim, the fadeaway 3s over three Spurs, and top of the key in transition assist through three more Spurs on his way to 11 assists, all reinforced the notion that the two-time MVP has recaptured his swag. Despite Durant’s presence on this team, the defensive suffocation by its plethora of wings, and the superb coaching staff, this franchise stands on the shoulder of the 6’3 point guard. And through the past two weeks, he’s soundly outplayed Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard while the Warriors have just about sealed up the number one seed and best record in the NBA.

Oh, Kevin Durant will be back in two weeks. That’s less so 2014 and 2015, though.

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