The Cleveland Cavaliers won game 7 on the road, beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championship. Lebron James unanimously won the finals Most Valuable Player award - his 3rd finals MVP award. After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the Cavs became the first team in finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a championship. After trailing 3 games to 1, James scored 41pts in 2 straight games, and followed it up with a triple double in game 7 - 27pts, 11reb, 11asts, along with 3blks and 2stls whilst playing 47 of 48 minutes. It was his 7th career finals triple double, and he is only the 3rd player to record one in a game 7 of a finals. He also became the first player to lead all players in the finals in 5 categories: points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.
Game 7 was the first time in the series where both teams were within 5pts of each other in the final 5min. After the score was tied 89-all with 4:39 left, Lebron had his driving layup blocked by Iguodala with 3:00 remaining. With 1:54 to go, Irving missed a jumper which triggered a fast break from the Warriors. Curry got the ball ahead to Iguodala, who had his layup thwarted by a signature chasedown block from behind by Lebron. Lebron and Curry each then missed a jumper, before Kyrie took Curry off the dribble for a clutch 3-pointer to put the Cavs up ahead by 3 with 53sec to go. After another 3-pt miss from Curry, Irving drove the lane and handed it off to a cutting Lebron who got up high for a one-handed slam. Lebron missed the dunk after drawing a foul from Green mid-air, landing hard onto the floor and banging the wrist of his shooting hand. After staying down on the court in pain, Lebron would stay on the court, and after missing his first free throw, nailed the second to give the Cavs a 4pt lead with 10sec left. Curry's final 3-pt attempt missed and the Cavaliers began celebrating on the Warrior's home floor. Irving finished with 26pts, 6asts and Love finished with 9pts, 14reb. Draymond Green had 32pts, 15reb, 9asts, including 6-of-8 3's after making his first 5 3's in the 1st half. Curry and Thompson struggled with 17pts (4-of-14 3's) and 14pts (2-of-10 3's) respectively.
Cleveland won it's first major sports championship title in 52 years. After being drafted 1st overall by the Cavaliers, Lebron was unable to win a title in his first 7 years. He left for the Miami Heat for 4 seasons, where he was able to win his first and second championships. Angered by Lebron's decision to leave Cleveland, the Cav's owner Dan Gilbert wrote an angry open letter and some angry Cav's fans could even be seen burning their own Lebron jerseys. But after 4 seasons with Miami, Lebron announced his decision to return to Cleveland via an essay published in Sports Illustrated, saying that what's most important to him is to bring back a trophy to Northeast Ohio.
With the game 7 loss, the Warriors lost their 9th game in these playoffs, matching the total number of games they have lost all regular season. After a record-setting 73-9 record and a regular season MVP trophy award for Stephen Curry, the Warriors were unable to win back-to-back titles. It was a disappointing finish for the team, who were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the semi-finals against OKC, but then gave up a 3-1 lead against the Cavs even with homecourt advantage.
NBA Top Plays (2min 3sec):
2016 Champions Cleveland Cavaliers (1min 46sec):
Lebron Triple Double (5min 48sec):
NBA Top Plays (2min 3sec):
2016 Champions Cleveland Cavaliers (1min 46sec):
Irving Drops 26pts (3min 4sec):
Lebron Triple Double (5min 48sec):
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