Welcome in to the full recap post of game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals where the Cleveland Cavaliers send shockwaves all over the basketball world. They upset the Golden State Warriors, who had a historical season in the regular season with 73 wins, 93-89, delivering a pro sports title to the city of Cleveland for the first time since 1964.
You can't ask for anything else from a game 7 for the championship. It was a closely contested game throughout. Each team responded with a run of their own, making clutch shots and defensive plays. But in the end, the Cavs came out on top and break the hearts of Oracle Arena and the Bay Area as a whole. But you can't be mad at the effort both teams put out despite a low scoring game. It was down to the wire, both teams in a deadlock, but the Cavs willed themselves mentally and pulled it out. Overall, hats off to them.
GSW
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Draymond Green, 32 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 11-15 shooting. You can make the argument that if the Warriors won, Draymond Green would've been the Finals MVP. To be completely honest, he was the only player who showed up for the Warriors today in this decisive game 7. He was almost near-perfect from beyond the arc, finishing 6-8 from that distance. Green reminded everyone why he was the Warriors' do-it-all player today. Despite the losing effort, it was a great bounce-back game given he was suspended game 5 and had an off game in game 6.
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Turnovers, shot selections, and missed shots down the stretch. Every Warriors possession during the final stretch of the 4th quarter was the bad representation of Warriors basketball. There were a couple of bad turnovers committed by Curry, ill-advised three pointers by the Splash Bros. There were a few offensive plays where they had good looks (the Warriors team as a whole), but they just couldn't hit those shots.
The Splash Bros. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, they needed to come out firing, but they didn't. 6-19 shooting for Curry, 6-17 shooting for Thompson. Give credit where credit is due. The Cavs played tight defense against them in the long-run of the game. They finished a combine 6-24 overall from beyond the arc, which is definitely not good for two players who have proven they can make shots from deep.
Harrison Barnes, 10 points, 3-10 shooting. Nothing new to talk about Barnes here. The first 4 games, he put up solid numbers and had an efficient field goal percentage, but he slumped in the next 3 and game 7 was no different.
Anderson Varejao. You have to feel sorry for Varejao after this game. He got traded from Cleveland to Portland, got his contract bought out, signed with Golden State and decided to not return to Cleveland to get a ring and that ring just eluded him again.
CLE
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LeBron James, 27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 9-24 shooting. There is absolutely no way you can't be happy for LeBron right now. He finally delivered that elusive championship that the city of Cleveland was thirsting for since forever. As a Laker fan, as a guy who is pro-Kobe, I already admit that LeBron was better after delivering Miami back-to-back titles to cap off his back-to-back MVP seasons. This championship has gotta be the sweetest for LeBron. He put the Cavaliers on his back in the last two games. His performance wasn't as sensational as his last two, but all-around he did just enough. He made a couple of clutch jumpers and a couple of clutch defensive plays to give Cleveland all kinds of chances to continue to be within striking distance and take the lead. Well-deserved recognition for the Finals MVP and future Hall of Famer in the making
Kyrie Irving, 26 points, 10-23 shooting. Kyrie Irving is a bad man offensively. He didn't have a good shooting night this game, but down the stretch, when it mattered the most, he showed up big time. The 3-pointer he made in the final seconds of the 4th quarter has gotta be the shot that he remembers the most in the finals. No matter how good of a defense the Warriors played dating back to game 3, he just countered them with better offense on tough shots. The scary part is that his best years are still ahead of him. Offensively, he's going to be a dangerous player going forward.
Kevin Love, 9 points, 14 rebounds. Let's show some "love" for Kevin Love this game. Okay, that was a bad pun. As much of a non-factor he was throughout these finals, he came up big for the Cavaliers in the game of his life tonight. The points do not show, but he hustled and grabbed some crucial rebounds to give the Cavs extra possessions needed to win this game.
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Turnovers. Early turnovers in the game hindered the Cavs' offense from fully taking off. I think that's the only negative I can pinpoint for the champions. So, it's not too major.
Conclusion
For the city of Cleveland, the nightmare is over. Over 50 years of heartbreak and suffering are finally put to rest with this championship. You gotta give it to Cleveland sports fans. Despite all the debris (garbage) they had to put up with on all of their professional sports teams, they're loyal and they've never stopped believing that one day, one of their teams will break the drought. They deserve this moment and they won't have to cry tears of defeat anymore, they can cry tears of joy that their Cavaliers delivered a title to the city. For the Golden State Warriors, this is going to leave a sour taste in the mouths for the players. After delivering a historic season, they choked away a 3-1 series lead and become the first victim in NBA history to give up that lead in the Finals. But Warriors fans have nothing to be ashamed of. No one thought that any team in this day and age would break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record of 72-10, but the Warriors did exactly that putting up 73 wins. Don't feel bad Warriors fans. It goes to remind everyone that capping off a historical season does not always have a storybook ending. To the city of Cleveland, you have the spotlight, enjoy your long-overdue championship that you will remember for a long time. Thank you guys for following my coverage of the 2016 NBA Finals. Until next season.
Congrats Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 NBA Champions!
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