Stephen Curry is averaging 28.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.0 steals in this year's Finals after struggling badly in 2016 and not even winning MVP honors in 2015.

Curry injured his knee in the first round of 2016 and never fully recovered.

"I'm not dealing with an MCL situation," Curry said. "It never was an excuse last year. I should have played much better. But yeah, there's a lot of factors that go into that, obviously. We've played only [15] games so far. We managed our minutes throughout the year a lot better, and I've been smarter about just taking care of my body. So this is the moment we've obviously been looking forward to. There's really no excuse for us not to be playing well."

Curry was vocal about his desire to perform at his maximum potential leading up to The Finals.

"Talking about it is good because it kind of keeps you in the moment and the understanding that every game we have is an opportunity to do something great," he said. "Whether it comes together or not, that's my attitude, my perspective on just playing basketball and enjoying this moment because for five years of my career, we didn't even come close. So I've got to appreciate it while we got it."

With Kevin Durant on their team, Curry acknowledged the expectations are a lot higher for the Warriors.

"Because our expectations are much greater now," Curry said. "This is our third time around. The regular season is obviously important. You have to lay the foundation for what kind of team you're going to be going into the playoffs and hopefully the ultimate goal of playing in these games. But you have to embrace the challenge and the atmosphere. I appreciate how hard it is to win a championship and what I need to do individually to try to make that happen."