It happened on the road at Oracle Arena. It’s not a dream. Most considered it an impossible feat. No team in 32 tries had ever come all the way back from being down 3-1 to win the NBA Finals.
Now, it’s 1-32.
The Cleveland Cavaliers completed the unimaginable on Sunday night, a 93-89 Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors to win the franchise’s first NBA championship.
Celebrate, Cleveland. Celebrate.
LeBron James has delivered Cleveland’s first professional championship in 52 years. He led all players in this series in points, assists, steals and blocks. He registered 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists Sunday to earn the Finals MVP award.
But he couldn’t have done this without Kyrie Irving, who played big to the tune of 26 points and six assists.
The Cavaliers are only the fourth team in history to win Game 7 of The Finals away from home.
James came through with a massive chase-down block of an Andre Iguodala layup to keep the game tied at 89 and set the stage for victory. The basket would have given the Warriors a two-point lead with 1:50 left to play. Instead, the teams traded fruitless possessions over nearly three minutes until Irving delivered the deciding blow.
With 53 seconds remaining, Irving had the Warriors’ Stephen Curry on him in an isolation set. Irving yo-yo’ed the ball and hit a killer step-back to put his team up, 92-89. The Cavaliers’ bench leaped for joy. Curry missed a wild trey on the other end. James was fouled hard on a dunk attempt, injuring his right wrist, but he stayed in the game and knocked down the second of his two free throws for a four-point lead with 10 seconds on the clock.
Golden State couldn’t get a quality look and Curry shot a desperation three that missed.
This squad took the most unconventional path in dethroning the defending champs, the same team that defeated them on this stage a little over a year ago. The Warriors’ 73-win regular season has gone to waste. The Cavaliers prevented them from capturing what truly mattered.
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