Down 3-1 to Thunder, Warriors show heart of a champion to reach NBA Finals

Enter the Warzone, double trouble in triple digits.

▪ Remember when people said the only reason the Warriors beat Cleveland last year was because LeBron James had no help?

The next two weeks will put that to rest.

▪ Down 3-1 to the Thunder, the Warriors were on the verge of wasting a 73-win season. Now the comeback becomes part of their legend while propelling them to another NBA title.

▪ A couple weeks ago, after witnessing a flopping display that would’ve made Vlade Divac blush, we called Steven Adams a fake tough guy.

Upon further review, nuts to that.

▪ Poor San Jose Sharks. They finally reach the Stanley Cup Finals, after 25 years as a franchise, and nobody in the Bay Area watched Game 1 after the first period.

▪ Wish we could provide a few keen insights for the rest of the series, except that would require someone who actually knows about hockey.

▪ The Fresno State baseball team went 6-0 this season against Air Force and 3-0 against Nevada – except when it mattered in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Hate to be I Told You So Guy, but you almost could see this one coming. Thin air and pitching don’t mix.

▪ Hard not to notice Fresno Grizzlies owner Chris Cummings and general manager Derek Franks seated on the stage behind Donald Trump during last week’s speech at Selland Arena.

How ’bout they start by making the Grizzlies great again?

▪ Sentence we never expected to write, Part 2,547: Where would the Grizzlies be without Danny Worth?

▪ Instead of letting 19-year-old phenom Julio Urias pitch in Fresno, the Dodgers promoted him to the majors (where he struggled through 2 2/3 innings in the brutally tough New York environment) and immediately sent him back to Triple A.

That’s some brilliant strategizing.

▪ Ran into former Fresno State wideout Bernard Berrian the other day, first time we’ve spoken in more than a decade. Looks like he could run a kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown – with half the state of Wisconsin chasing him.

▪ Legendary Texas baseball coach (and ex-Bulldog) Augie Garrido getting reassigned to a job title that begins with “special assistant to” makes us wonder how Thomas Boeh is doing as Joseph Castro’s special assistant.

Crickets.

▪ The Baylor football team was a doormat for so long that when Art Briles started winning big people there became so intoxicated by success no one cared to know what was really going on.

Last we checked, $260 million stadiums don’t build themselves.

▪ When you have coaches meeting directly with sexual assault complainants and then “actively divert(ing) cases from the student conduct or criminal processes,” it’s a sign that maybe the football program has a wee bit much power.

▪ For its litany of NCAA violations, Mississippi self-imposed scholarship reductions and handed itself three years’ probation.

Nothing like the crook who raises his hand and proclaims, “I did it!” after being caught red-handed.

▪ It isn’t every year that someone wins the Indianapolis 500 while crossing the finish line at speeds that can be attained by a Nissan Leaf.

▪ For no particular reason: Eric Fox

▪ Fresno no longer ranks dead last in parks, green space and recreation amenities out of America’s 100 largest cities.

Now that’s cause for celebration. We’re No. 97! We’re No. 97!

▪ American Express took Washington High product DeShawn Stevenson to court for an unpaid balance of $384,000 on his Black Card.

So far the company has collected $62.09, the amount Stevenson had in his bank accounts.

Considering Stevenson earned nearly $28 million in salary during his 13-year NBA career, let’s hope he has more than that socked away.

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Down 3-1 to Thunder, Warriors show heart of a champion to reach NBA Finals."