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OAKLAND, Calif. — The injury, as sickeningly gruesome as any to befall an athlete, occurred nine years ago. But still, Golden State’s Shaun Livingston rehabs his left knee, still ices on a daily basis.

“I don’t think about it. I still have to train and do all my rehab. I have to ice. It’s really a day-to-day routine. I can’t get behind,” Livingston said. “Mentally it was the hardest hurdle to get over, not thinking about it. Just reacting and playing off your instincts. Because when you’re on the court, it’s all happening too fast, and you don’t have time to think: Is it going to be OK? Am I going to injure it again? You just play.”

The very fact Livingston can play is a testament to his drive, his will — not to mention medical science. With the Clippers in 2007, Livingston, who was destined to be “The Next Magic Johnson” according to many, dislocated his left kneecap on an awkward landing. His leg snapped and he tore ligaments, dislocated his patella. He missed an entire season rehabbing for 20 months.

Lesser men would have said “Why me?” and given up any hope of playing again. Livingston, though, had one thing in his favor.

His age.

“It takes a lot,” said Livingston, who had seven points and five assists in the Warriors’ Game 2 rout of Cavaliers on Sunday night after improbably becoming the team-high scorer in Game 1. “It’s faith, but it’s also a lot of work that I put in rehabbing every day and then training your body.

Warning: graphic content

“What also helped me, I was 21, so having youth on my side and being able to heal, go through those phases. It would have been a different situation at 31 as opposed to 21.”

He’s almost 31 now — he’ll turn 31 on Sept. 11 — but he can contribute. His 20-point splurge off the bench in Game 1 — “Shaun played out of his mind,” teammate Klay Thompson said — contained 8-of-10 shooting, three assists and four rebounds.

Plus there is a decided throwback element to Livingston’s game. He actually relies on mid-range jumpers. Legend says before 3-point shots and dunks, players relied on these mid-range jumpers. Probably some folks watching Game 1 saw Livingston and screamed “Blasphemy.” Scoring comes either at the rim or behind the arc, doesn’t it? Livingston points to the cause for that thinking.

“Analytics. That’s the way the game has changed, rightfully so,” said Livingston, in his 12th season and with his ninth different team, including the Nets (2013-14). “The teams that have won championships, that’s how they’ve kind of constructed their teams.

“But I just kind of stayed true to my game, played to my strengths,” said Livingston, who was the No. 4 overall pick by the Clippers in 2004 as an 18-year-old straight out of high school.

Livingston found something he was good at and stuck to it, especially after the injury.

“Coming back from my injury, I had to be extremely efficient because I didn’t have as much rope in the lineups and rotations as I did when I was with the Clippers,” Livingston said. “So it was sticking to my comfort zone, and that’s kind of what I’ve done.”

You don’t hear anyone complaining with the Warriors, who signed him as a free agent from the Nets in July 2014.

“One thing about Shaun is he’s never going to get outside of who he is. He’s going to do what he does, and he’s going to get to his spots and he’s going to raise up and knock shots down,” teammate Draymond Green said.

And more times than not, those shots are mid-range, though a dunk by Livingston in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals was absolutely massive in a critical stretch that helped propel the Warriors past the Thunder. Regardless of the shot, Livingston is just fortunate to still be playing.

“I’ve put it in the past,” Livingston said. “Everything happens for a reason and I believe that. Me being able to accept what happened to me, that allowed me to move forward.”

And into his second Finals in two years.

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