OAKLAND -- After what occurred Saturday at Oracle Arena, 48 minutes crackling with playoff passion, featuring bravura performances from opposing MVP candidates, the basketball gods now know what must do.
They have to work whatever magic is required to give the world the Warriors vs. the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
We've had KD vs. LeBron, and it lasted five games, with Kevin Durant walking away last June with the Finals MVP trophy.
We have not yet had Stephen Curry vs. Kyrie Irving, Celtics version. We got a glimpse Saturday and it was glorious, with Curry emerging victorious.
"It was playoff intensity, back and forth," Curry said after scoring a season-high 49 points, embellished by eight 3-pointers, to lead the Warriors to a 109-105 victory.
Irving scored 37 points, making some incredible shots and dropping five triples in six attempts.
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When Irving came out firing, 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the first quarter, giving the Celtics a 10-point lead, Curry responded with 13 in the first on 5-of-9 shooting.
And while Irving cooled a bit, making 8-of-13 shots over the final three quarters, Curry only turned up the heat. He scored 18 points in the third quarter, during which the Warriors took their first lead, and 15 more in the fourth, including six free throws inside the final 10.3 seconds to lock up the win.
"You've just got to sit back and enjoy the show," Kevin Durant said of Curry.
"It was a great basketball game," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It just felt like a playoff game. High-level stuff, great defense, both teams playing incredibly hard and smart. Not a lot of turnovers, with some tremendous individual performances; the guard play was just amazing, back and forth."
[RECAP: Curry cooks Celtics for 49, Warriors hold on for 40th win of season]
With the exception of Curry, the Celtics and their No. 1 defense handled the Warriors well. Kevin Durant scored 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Klay Thompson was held to 7, on 3-of-12 shooting. Draymond Green was 4-of-11, Nick Young 0-of-3.
The Warriors and their No. 1 offense were forced to adjust on the fly, and that meant Curry dipping into his freestyle bag. They ran more isolation plays than usual because most of their movement was stifled by Boston's defense. The Warriors managed but 19 assists, the lowest total of the season.
We've seen the Warriors-Cavaliers, in three consecutive Finals and twice in the regular season, and it's evident the greatness of LeBron James is not enough to deliver a truly compelling series.
That matchup, barring Cleveland making a blockbuster move before the Feb. 8 trade deadline is played out. Drained of drama. It's time to move on.
At this stage of the season, Warriors-Raptors would be more attractive than a fourth episode with the Cavs. There would at least be a sense of curiosity. And Toronto is a beautiful city.
But that series couldn't begin to offer the plots and subplots that would come with Warriors-Celtics.
And while the Rockets would like to spoil any chance of the Warriors coming out of the Western Conference, neither of Houston's stars, James Harden and Chris Paul, have mastered the craft playing in the postseason.
Boston would be fresh and brassy and, on the slight chance Gordon Hayward can return and be effective, particularly threatening. The Celtics are young but precocious and fearless.
As to whether they are ready, the defense is. This was the fifth time in six games they've held the Warriors below 46 percent from the field.
"I'm looking on the floor and I'm on a new team," Irving said. "We just got (rookie) Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye and Daniel Theis, and they're just thrown in a high-level one-seed vs. one-seed type of battle. And it demands everything from you mentally, physically and you've got to bring it because you're going against the champs.
"Being in Oracle, you know high level, they on their run, Steph's being unbelievable and their crowd's going crazy . . . it's a lot to consider."
Yet it's something the basketball gods have to ponder.
"It was intense and it was hard-fought, all the way through, all 48 minutes; that's what you expect in the playoffs," Curry said.
"That's a very good ball club," Green said. "They've been on top of the East all year. They beat us on their home floor and they came in tonight ready to go.
"The intensity level was great. The energy in the building was great. It was a fun game to play in. It's a team we know we may possibly see down the road."
Make it happen, ladies and gentlemen. If you were paying attention Saturday, you understand why.
