PORTLAND, Ore. -- As the Golden State Warriors celebrated their fifth straight Western Conference championship after eliminating the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night, forward Draymond Green pointed out that as the conversation surrounding Kevin Durant's pending free agency continues, Durant's addition to the Warriors three summers ago made the group "unbeatable."

Durant hasn't played since injuring his right calf in Game 5 of the conference semifinals on May 8, but Green singled out Durant as being the reason the organization has been able to go to another level over the past three seasons and sits on the precipice of winning its third straight NBA championship.

"There's been so much talk about how, 'Oh, they're the Warriors. Before Kevin got there they were great.' Bulls---," Green told ESPN. "We was damn good. I think we were a very good team who was tough to beat. I think when Kevin came here, he made us unbeatable. When DeMarcus [Cousins] came here, it made people scratch their head even more. And so we need those guys. The next series is going to be tough, and I hope and pray that we can get him back."

The Warriors remain cautiously optimistic that Durant, who will be reevaluated later this week, will be able able to return for the NBA Finals, but the Warriors remain vague on an exact return because they want to make sure Durant continues to respond well to treatment.

Green was vocal prior to Game 4 that the Warriors were motivated to close out the series against the Blazers because it would allow Durant and Cousins more time to recover. Cousins has been sidelined since tearing his right quad in Game 2 of the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 15. Durant would have nine full days of recovery in advance of Game 1 of NBA Finals in either Milwaukee or Toronto, scheduled for May 30. The extra rest also allows Andre Iguodala, who missed Game 4 because of a left calf injury, more time to heal.

"Our goal is obviously to get all three of those guys back," Green said. "We know we're a good team with who we have, but those guys make us great and almost unbeatable. And we know we need [Durant]."

The Warriors have praised Durant repeatedly throughout the postseason, especially in the wake of his injury after he averaged 34.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in the postseason prior to getting hurt. In order to win a third straight NBA championship, Warriors players and coaches reiterated that they're going to need him in order to finish the job.

"It's very special, go five straight [to the NBA Finals], it obviously hasn't been done since the '60s," Warriors swingman Klay Thompson told ESPN. "We're aware that it's pretty amazing. It's nice that we've won with enough time to try and get K back because we desperately need him. And I think everyone knows there's a couple matchups for next series that will be huge to have him fully healthy. It's just a special time right now to be a Warrior."

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows Durant still has to clear some hurdles in his recovery, including being cleared for on-court work again, but he feels good about the possibilities.

"I'm just hopeful that that's the case more than anything," Kerr told ESPN of being able to add Durant back into the lineup. "We don't know how it's going to end up. I'm really proud of the guys for holding down the fort during this series, and hopefully his rehab continues to progress and we get him back because we're going to need him. No doubt."

PORTLAND, Ore. -- There is no award for most valuable player of the conference finals. If there were there's a good chance Draymond Green would've won it for his play for the Golden State Warriors in their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers.

His defense was just sensational. His playmaking was at the highest levels he's maybe ever shown, nearly averaging a triple double at 16.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists. He ran the floor like a point guard. And he hit the game-winning shot in overtime of Game 4, a clutch 3-pointer in the 119-117 win that clinched the Western Conference finals.

Players and coaches on both sides, plus the large media contingent, have praised Green for days. After calling him a "wrecking ball" after an awesome Game 3, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked to come up with an even better metaphor for Green the next day. He apologized that he couldn't.

But in all fairness, Green wasn't the best player in the series.

This sweep was a genuine masterpiece for Stephen Curry. Perhaps the stakes weren't high enough nor the opponent severe enough to call it the best playoff series of his career for it to qualify -- actually, forget that, it was the best series of his career.

Curry has never dominated a series like he did over these past four games, doing so in a time of need with Kevin Durant out and Andre Iguodala hobbled and then sidelined himself. Actually, call it the best 4.5 games of Curry's playoff career when you include the 33-point second half to close out the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the previous round.

He has said many times during the past week that this was a special time because he was playing against his brother, Seth, in this series. But it's going to be a special memory because of just how dominating he was.

With his 37 points Monday, Curry finished the series averaging a career-high 36.5 points. It was the most points any player has averaged in a four-game sweep in league history. The 26 3-pointers he made were another NBA record for the first four games of a series, some of them just preposterous, such as the long-range missile he made at the end of the first half Monday that cracked the Blazers' momentum.

The stats could go on and on, but let's pause for a moment. No one freaked out about Curry's greatness these past four games. There was intense praise for Green, universal acclaim for the Warriors' role players and odes to Golden State's championship meddle. All totally legitimate.

But Curry's triple-double in Game 4 -- he had 13 rebounds and 11 assists -- threatened to be relegated to a footnote. So was the fact that he played the entire second half and overtime. That he did all of this with a pesky finger injury -- he dislocated his middle finger in Game 2 against Houston -- was brushed off.

That's because Curry has achieved one of the greatest levels a player can: He's normalized greatness.

Michael Jordan did this. LeBron James did this. Tim Duncan did this. There's such an expectation that Curry will deliver that when he does, there's an absence of appropriate acclaim.

Yep, just another good game for Curry. Oh, by the way: Had he not lost his mind for a second and needlessly traveled before hitting at 3-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter, he would've ho-hummed his way to an ultra-rare 40-point triple-double in a road closeout game in the conference finals.

"We still don't take anything for granted," Curry said. "We understand how hard it is to end at this level. We don't want to end as long as we can control it."

It's good advice. Curry's play since Durant's injury -- he had 12 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 against the Rockets after Durant came up lame to finish off that crucial win -- should not be taken for granted.

"I just can't say enough about the competitive desire about the group of players that we have here and the culture that they have built together," Kerr said. "Being without Kevin these last five games has put us in a really tough spot, and our guys stepped up in a big way."

A bunch of guys have for sure. But one in particular deserves special notice.

Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda died on Monday, eight months after receiving a lung transplant. He was 70 years old.

“With deep sadness, we announce that our beloved Niki has peacefully passed away with his family on Monday,” his family said in a statement to the Austrian press agency.

Lauda was born in 1949 and began a career in racing, going against the wishes of his family. He made it to Formula One in 1971 driving for March Racing. He made his debut in his home country’s Austrian Grand Prix.

He returned to March Racing in 1972 before transitioning to BRM for the 1973 season. Lauda then caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who offered him an opportunity to join the famed Scuderia Ferrari team in 1974.

Lauda earned his first two Grand Prix victories in 1974 and backed them up with five more wins and the Formula One championship in 1975.

The 1976 season saw Lauda engage in his legendary battle over the Formula One crown with James Hunt. The two battled throughout the season before Lauda was badly burned in an accident during the German Grand Prix.

Much to the surprise of many, including Hunt, Lauda returned to competition six weeks after the crash in Germany to continue his fight with Hunt over the championship.

Lauda entered the finale in Japan leading the championship, but opted to retire from the race because he felt the torrential downpour taking place during the event made the racing unsafe. Hunt won the championship.

The 1976 season and the battle between Hunt and Lauda was dramatized in the 2013 film Rush, which featured Daniel Bruhl portraying Lauda.

Lauda returned to championship form in 1977, winning three times and capturing his second Formula One title. He left Ferrari to join Brabham in 1978, but following a frustrating 1979 season that saw Lauda fail to finish all but two rounds, he retired and started his own airplane business.

Lauda’s retirement didn’t last. In 1982, he joined McLaren and returned to Formula One, winning the United States Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix.

After a dismal 1983 season, Lauda returned to McLaren in 1984. Lauda and McLaren won five times and the Austrian driver claimed his third and final Formula One championship.

Lauda spent one more season with McLaren in 1985, but failed to finish most of the races. He won his final Formula One race that season during the Dutch Grand Prix. Lauda retired at the conclusion of the season.

After departing Formula One as a driver Lauda held multiple management and consulting positions. He was a consultant for Ferrari for a time and in 2001 Lauda became team principal of the Jaguar Formula One team. He left that role in 2002.

In 2012, he was appointed the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and was often spotted in the Mercedes pits watching drivers Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.

All at McLaren are deeply saddened to learn that our friend, colleague and 1984 Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda, has passed away. Niki will forever be in our hearts and enshrined in our history. #RIPNiki pic.twitter.com/Ndd9ZEfm6B

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 21, 2019

SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson Kvapil kept his run of success during Charlotte Speedweeks going strong by topping Monday night’s open practice session for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport.

Kvapil, the driver of the No. 35 CorvetteParts.net/SKE Chassis entry, turned a fast lap of 9.8665 seconds (60.812 mph) around the one-sixth mile dirt oval, leading a list of 24 drivers who took time during the three-hour period.

The teenager and oldest son of 2003 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil is looking to become the sixth different driver in as many years to win the QRC Open.

“The scary part is, I think we can be even better,” said Carson Kvapil. “We were OK, I felt like, but I didn’t think we were as good as we could have been … definitely not quite where I wanted to be. She was pretty happy around the top, though. This is a brand-new car, and we’re working on getting it right.”

After sending his son home prior to the clock expiring, since it was a school night, Travis Kvapil smiled as he began loading his oldest son’s kart back into the trailer and noted he was content with where they ended the night.

“I would say that’s the best we’ve been here, honestly,” noted Travis Kvapil. “Our last run, he ran (10) flats every lap and then a 9.90 on the last lap. It was turning times so effortlessly, and that’s always what you want as a parent and a crew chief. We’re in a good spot; we just have to carry that through the week.”

Recent Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson was second-quick on the night in a brand new Factory QRC-backed No. 1k machine.

Larson led the first hour of practice before being topped by Carson Kvapil, and when he went back out for another go, lowered his best time to a 9.8995-second (60.609 mph) clip.

“We’re better than we’ve started off here, for sure; we’re just not quite where Kvapil is,” noted Larson. “He was staying so consistent and we were falling off over the course of a run, so that’s something we’ll have to work on for tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s a good place to start, though.”

A trio of California drivers – Chase Majdic, Colby Copeland and Jesse Colwell – completed the top five.

Larson was the only past winner of the event to practice on Monday night. Joey Robinson ran the most laps of any of the two-dozen drivers in attendance, with 85 laps around the one-sixth mile dirt oval.

Tuesday night’s Cookout Night program at Millbridge features Open division qualifying for Wednesday’s 51-lap, $5,151-to-win QRC Open main event, as well as a separate $1,000-to-win feature.

Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks will also run full programs on Tuesday night as well.

Practice results for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport:

1. #35 – Carson Kvapil, 9.867 seconds
2. #1k – Kyle Larson, 9.899 seconds
3. #42x – Chase Majdic, 9.938 seconds
4. #1m – Colby Copeland, 10.072 seconds
5. #86j – Jesse Colwell, 10.210 seconds
6. #23x – Demo Mittry, 10.234 seconds
7. #1b – Chase Johnson, 10.263 seconds
8. #83 – Jett Hays, 10.280 seconds
9. #19m – Ethan Mitchell, 10.310 seconds
10. #09 – Tyler Letarte, 10.320 seconds
11. #84 – Dillon Latour, 10.341 seconds
12. #33 – Joey Robinson, 10.355 seconds
13. #11x – Brent Crews, 10.364 seconds
14. #57 – Maria Cofer, 10.395 seconds
15. #812 – Gray Leadbetter, 10.434 seconds
16. #01 – Carson Sousa, 10.452 seconds
17. #22c – Carly Holmes, 10.464 seconds
18. #54 – Lucas Sipka, 10.477 seconds
19. #52y – Dominic Gorden, 10.594 seconds
20. #77h – Jerrod Huisenga, 10.630 seconds
21. #02 – Branson Dils, 10.715 seconds
22. #2a – Renee Angel, 10.767 seconds
23. #21 – Kyle Beattie, 10.934 seconds
24. #55s – Scott Hall, 10.956 seconds

Providence head coach Ed Cooley has emerged as a candidate for the vacant Michigan job, sources told ESPN.

Cooley was expected to interview with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel on Monday, sources told ESPN. Manuel is also expected to interview Juwan Howard, the Miami Heat assistant and former Michigan star, on Tuesday.

The Wolverines are looking to replace John Beilein, who left last week to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beilein had been at Michigan since 2007, leading the Wolverines to two national championship game appearances.

Cooley's connection to Michigan comes through the search firm hired to help the school, Turnkey Sports. Turnkey's managing director, Gene DeFilippo, was the athletic director at Boston College when Cooley was an assistant under Al Skinner.

Cooley, a lifelong New Englander who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, has been the head coach of the Friars for eight seasons. He led them to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2014-2018, before finishing 18-16 last season.

Luke Yaklich and Saddi Washington, who were assistants under Beilein, also have been mentioned in connection with the vacancy. Butler coach LaVall Jordan, who was an assistant under Beilein for six years, and Texas' Shaka Smart were linked early in the process, but it's unclear if either name is on the current shortlist.

Portland Trail Blazers fans gave a standing ovation to high school coach and former University of Oregon football star Keanon Lowe on Monday night for his help in stopping a potential shooting at a local high school last week.

Lowe, a star wide receiver at Oregon from 2011 to 2014, tackled a student armed with a shotgun on Friday at Portland's Parkrose High School, where he works as the football and track coach as well as a security guard. Lowe said he had just entered a classroom when the student appeared in the doorway with a gun.

Lowe was honored during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between the Blazers and Golden State Warriors.

A hero among us.

Thank you @KeanonLowe for your incredible bravery. We're proud to have you as a member of #RipCity! pic.twitter.com/Ry94hllLIw

— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 21, 2019

The former Ducks receiver said in an interview with "Good Morning America" that he lunged at the gunman and wrestled with him for the weapon as other students ran screaming out a back door. Lowe said he managed to get the gun away from the student and pass it to a teacher, while Lowe held down the student with his other hand. Lowe wrapped the student in a bear hug until police arrived, he said. No one was injured.

Police are still trying to determine if any shots were fired.

"I lunged for the gun and we both had the gun, we had four hands on the gun,'' Lowe recalled. "I'm just trying to make sure the end of the gun isn't pointing toward where the students are running.''

Lowe said it was the "longest fraction of a second of my life, but I kind of assessed that situation and my instincts kicked in.''

The suspect, 19-year-old Angel Granados-Diaz, pleaded not guilty on Monday during a brief court hearing to a felony count of possessing a weapon in a public building and three misdemeanors. His public defender, Grant Hartley, declined to comment.

Granados-Diaz turned 19 in jail on Monday, the same day students at Parkrose High returned to class after an emotional weekend that included their prom.

A police report said the incident was a "suicide attempt with a gun."

Granados-Diaz has declined an interview with authorities and has no prior convictions, according to court papers. He is being held on $500,000 bail and has another court appearance next week.

Lowe said he was called on a radio to go to a classroom in the fine arts building and get a student. When he got there, the substitute teacher told him the student wasn't in class. Lowe said he was about to leave when Diaz entered the room.

"I feel like I was put in that room for a reason,'' Lowe said. "He didn't know I was in that room when he opened the door, and I think there's things in my life that have happened that have prepared me for that very moment.''

Lowe was a star wide receiver at Oregon. He caught 10 touchdown passes and had nearly 900 receiving yards. After college, he worked as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers and as an analyst for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Competitive sweep? It sounds like an oxymoron, but it provided a bit of consolation for the Portland Trail Blazers after the franchise's longest playoff run in 19 years ended with a four-game dismissal by the dynastic Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

"We were very competitive in this series, even though it was a sweep," Portland coach Terry Stotts said after what he described as a "special season" ended with a 119-117 overtime loss in Monday's Game 4.

The Trail Blazers actually led for more minutes in the series than the Warriors by a 101-83 margin. Portland's problem, however, was that no lead was large enough against Golden State.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Blazers became the only team in the last two decades to lose three games that they led by at least 15 points in the same playoff series. The Warriors rallied from a 17-point deficit in Game 2, from 18 down in Game 3 and from another 17-point deficit in Game 4.

"We had to fight and scrap," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Golden State clinched its fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance. "In the end, it's a sweep, but we had to scrap and claw for three of the four victories. This was more difficult than it appeared."

Portland had legitimates opportunities to win Games 2 and 4 but faltered offensively down the stretch. The Trail Blazers scored only 19 points on 8-of-29 shooting in 14 clutch minutes during the series, situations defined by the score being within five points in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime. That included six points on 3-of-10 shooting in overtime Monday, when Blazers star Damian Lillard missed a corner 3-pointer in the final seconds that could have been the game-winner.

"It's the furthest that we have played into the postseason, and that's a little deeper water than what we've seen," said Lillard, who had 28 points and 12 assists in Game 4, his best performance of the series. "It's a little bit more physically and mentally trying. The level of play is higher. There's more on the line. Teams take their scouting reports and detail it to the next level. I think it was a great experience for us. ...

"I think we showed that we're capable of being here and competing at this level. But it's definitely different."

By and large, the Blazers considered the results of the series to be more of a testament to Golden State's greatness than an exposure of Portland's flaws.

"Give the Warriors credit," said Portland center Meyers Leonard, who did not play Game 1 due to a coach's decision and scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Game 4. "They have kind of been there, done that, obviously. They are able to sustain a certain level of play and execution that clearly allowed them to find their way back the last three games."

It marked the third consecutive year that Portland's postseason ended with a sweep, but the Blazers walked out of the Moda Center on Monday night with their heads held much higher than after their last two exits. They failed to win a playoff game the previous two years, getting swept by the Warriors in 2017 and the New Orleans Pelicans last season.

This postseason run represented remarkable progress for Portland, a popular preseason pick to fall out of the West playoff picture. The Blazers claimed the conference's third seed with a 53-win regular season, closed out the first round in five games when Lillard waved goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder by capping his 50-point performance with a tie-breaking, 37-foot buzzer beater and won a road Game 7 over the Denver Nuggets in the West semifinals.

"I think it was a special season for us," Lillard said. "We're coming off back-to-back sweeps. I mean, it's another sweep, but you'd rather get swept in the Western Conference finals than in the first round."

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Golden State Warriors have earned their fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals after beating the Portland Trail Blazers 119-117 in overtime of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night.

This is the first time a team has made five straight Finals appearances since the Boston Celtics went 10 straight times, from 1957 to 1966.

The Warriors made it happen on Monday night by coming back from a double-digit second-half deficit for the third straight game, this time crawling all the way back from a 17-point hole.

Once again, it was star guard Stephen Curry who led the Warriors all the way back. The two-time MVP finished with a triple-double, racking up 37 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

It was the fifth straight postseason game that Curry scored at least 30 points, the longest such streak of his career. Curry is now just the sixth player in NBA history to score 35 or more points in each of the first four games of a series, joining Elgin Baylor, LeBron James (twice), Michael Jordan (twice), Bernard King and Jerry West, according to ESPN Stats and Information data.

Warriors forward Draymond Green continued his stellar postseason play on Monday, racking up his second straight triple-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, including a huge 3-pointer with 39.6 seconds left in overtime that helped seal the win.

Curry and Green became the first teammates in NBA postseason history to record a triple-double in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Curry and Green made huge plays throughout the series with the Blazers, and they are the main reasons why the Warriors' streak of dominance continued over the past week.

The Warriors now have nine days of rest before heading to either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on May 30.

The extra time to recover is even more important than usual for Golden State, given that the Warriors are dealing with several lingering injuries as they look to win their third straight NBA championship.

Kevin Durant hasn't played since injuring his right calf in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets on May 8. The Warriors are optimistic Durant will be able to return for the Finals, but as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has said several times over the past week, the organization has been vague about a potential return date because it is waiting to see how Durant continues to respond to treatment.

Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala missed Monday's game because of a sore left calf after suffering the injury in Game 3 on Saturday. The Warriors don't sound concerned the former Finals MVP will have to miss extended time, but they know he could use the extra rest, as well.

Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his right quad in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the LA Clippers on April 15, remains the wild card for the Warriors. After initially being listed as "unlikely" to return this season following his injury, Cousins continues to put in work on the floor, and the Warriors have been pleased by his progress. He still has some hurdles to clear over the next week, but there is hope he also could return for the Finals at some point.