By: Ben Leonard
Follow @ben___leonard
Golden streams and confetti. It’s been a long time coming.

After generations of “what-ifs” and “could haves,” the Golden State Warriors finally reached the promised land, the NBA Finals, for the first time since 1975. Stephen Curry looked strong after his scary moment in Game Four, and his 26 points helped bring the Warriors to basketball’s biggest stage in a 104-90 win over the Houston Rockets.

Curry, his Warriors, and their fans will savor this moment for years to come. They’ll take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals, but that didn’t phase the crowd at Oracle Arena. They’ve backed Curry and these Warriors all season long, through thick and through thin, and Wednesday was no exception.

After another sluggish start to the first, in which the Warriors found themselves down as many as eight points, the Warriors found their midseason form and were able to win a tightly contested game. The Rockets gave it their all, with six players in double figures, including James Harden’s 14. However, Harden turned the ball over 13 times, the most in NBA single game playoff history. Harden had received flak from rapper “Lil B” for stealing his dance move, and his attendance in Oakland on Wednesday seemed to rattle him.

The Warriors didn’t win it in the prettiest fashion, leaving Klay Thompson with a bloodied ear and leaving the fans relatively out of the “splash” zone. He left the game and could have been used, but was not needed. Outside of Thompson and his 4 for 6 outing from long range, none of the Warriors found the bottom of the net, making just 9 of 29 three point attempts.

But it didn’t matter in the end. Harden’s turnovers and Harrison Barnes, Curry, and Thompson combining to score 70 points put the nail in the coffin for the overmatched Rockets. If anything, as with the San Francisco Giants, this series showed that heart and chemistry transcends talented individual players.

This is not to say that the Warriors are untalented, but is rather a testament to the fact that the Warriors actually like each other. You won’t see the Rockets with each other outside of the team facilities. This is truly a special team.