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When LeBron James decided to return to Cleveland after four years in Miami, he wrote “what’s most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio” in Sports Illustrated.
That’s exactly what he did Sunday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers went on the road for Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals and beat the 73-win Golden State Warriors in a dramatic back-and-forth affair, 93-89. The win gave the city of Cleveland its first big league sports title since 1964 and ended a record-breaking year for the Warriors.
James fulfilled his famous promise in all-time-great fashion with a triple-double consisting of 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Guard Kyrie Irving drilled the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer in the final minute, to break an 89-89 tie. He finished with 26 critical points.
He was also unanimously voted the NBA Finals MVP for his efforts:
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The Warriors were within a point because of five made three-pointers, and Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post illustrated the different advantages for the two teams:
The three-pointers were one thing, but Golden State had trouble contending with James’ athleticism:
The tight game continued early in the second, and Iman Shumpert converted a four-point play with 7:01 remaining until halftime to give Cleveland a 31-29 lead. It was the first made three-pointer for the Cavaliers in nine attempts, but they were still ahead on the road against the defending champions.
On the other end, Green was carrying the Warriors. CBS Sports reacted to his three that gave Golden State a 35-33 advantage:
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From there, the Warriors controlled the remainder of the second quarter and took a 49-42 lead into the locker room. Given how tight the first quarter was, it seemed like a comfortable advantage for the home team.
Green proved to be the difference in the opening two quarters with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. He spearheaded Golden State’s 20-11 run to end the half (and made up for the 3-of-12 mark from downtown from the Splash Brothers), and HBO’s Bill Simmons described the performance:
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Both offenses stagnated in the middle of the third, but Irving’s two free throws with 4:50 remaining gave the Cavaliers a 62-59 advantage.
“[Steve] Kerr is leaving so many points on the floor by not going Draymond at center with Love out there,” Danny Leroux of RealGM observed.
Irving then converted an and-1 while falling out of bounds and gave the Cavaliers a 65-59 lead with 4:33 left in the quarter. Suddenly, the road team had all the momentum, and Jordan Brenner of ESPN The Magazine and Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum responded to Irving’s play:
Realizing the game was potentially hanging in the balance, Kerr went small, and his team responded.
A Shaun Livingston dunk tied the contest at 71-71, and an Andre Iguodala basket in the final seconds gave the Warriors a 76-75 lead entering the final 12 minutes of the NBA season. Tom Withers of the Associated Press noted the city of Cleveland was preparing for a long-awaited celebration.
The party seemed closer when Cleveland scored six of the first eight points in the fourth and jumped out to an 81-78 lead with Curry on the bench. Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report didn’t agree with Golden State’s strategy early in the quarter.
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Curry returned and sparked a Warriors run. He drilled a deep step-back three to tie the game with 6:56 remaining, and Thompson connected on a long two to give the defending champions an 85-83 advantage.
“It’d be fitting if the Warriors won making contested threes” after they did exactly that most of the season, Eric Freeman of Yahoo Sports observed.
Just when it looked like the Warriors would create some separation, James drew a foul and hit three free throws, then made a three on the next possession to give the Cavaliers an 89-87 lead. Golden State tied it at 89, but the offenses slowed as the contest went into a timeout with less than three minutes left.
Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding praised Cleveland’s defense against the usually hot-shooting Warriors:
The two defenses continued to play at a high level, and James swatted Iguodala on a play that highlighted his insane athleticism to keep it tied:
Irving broke the cold spell for both sides with his game-winning three with 53 seconds left, and Curry missed his attempt to answer on the ensuing possession. Cleveland had a chance to clinch the game, and James drew a foul on a dunk attempt. But the Cavaliers’ leader collapsed in pain after the collision. He still hit one of two free throws to build a two-possession lead at 93-89 with 10 seconds left.
Cleveland’s defense locked Golden State down one more time, and James and his teammates ended the city’s championship drought against the best regular-season team in NBA history.
source: CNN.com
