And the Cavs have done it!
LeBron James and the Cavaliers have won the city’s first championship to end Cleveland’s 52 years of hurt in an epic battle against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors
The game remained in a deadlock and tied for much of the fourth quarter as both teams played their hearts out in one of the most watched NBA Finals games in history.
But Golden State’s power forward, Draymond Green, has out-performed his teammates and his opponents as he helped his team jump to a 49-42 lead over James and the Cavs at the end of the second quarter.
Green has dominated the court with 32 points and 14 rebounds throughout Game 7.
James ended the first quarter with six points, six rebounds and three assists, as the Cavaliers at one point led the Golden State Warriors 23-22.
Cleveland’s first five baskets came from five different starters, everyone getting involved early.
Curry’s first basket of the night for the Warriors was a 3-pointer, giving him one of those now in all 58 postseason games of his career.
Iman Shumpert connected from the right wing midway through the second quarter while getting fouled by Golden State’s Shaun Livingston.
Shumpert made the free throw to give Cleveland a two-point lead, but Curry answered on the ensuing possession with a three-point play to put the Warriors back on top.
Kevin Love, who has been maligned for much of this series, grabbed seven rebounds in the quarter for Cleveland.
James also had three turnovers in the game’s first seven minutes, but has more than made up for those with some pinpoint assists. James leads the Cavs with 12 points.
Andre Iguodala was Golden State’s first sub of the game, and seems to be moving much more fluidly than he was when his back was paining him in Game 6.
James and the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, but Curry and his Golden State team are looking to take the win in Game 7.
The King can create history if they upset the odds, and win the Ohio city’s first championship in any sport in 52 years.
The winner-takes-all Game 7 may be the closest the NBA ever gets to replicating the NFL’s Super Bowl as the competitive series is the second-most watched in NBA championship history with an average of 18.5 million viewers throughout the first six games.
The final game of the playoffs between the two teams will more than likely be the most exciting as the Cavaliers vie to grab their first NBA title and the Warriors look to get a repeat championship.
Game 6 proved unlucky for Steve Kerr and Curry as they both let their frustrations get to them.
Each was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for separate incidents. Kerr, the league’s coach of the year, was fined for publicly criticizing officiating after the game, which Cleveland won 115-101 to force a deciding Game 7 in the title series.
Curry was fined for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands after fouling out of the game.
He launched the mouth piece at a supporter in the front row as he argued the call and was thrown from the court for the first time in his storied career.
Curry apologized to the fan he hit before leaving as Cleveland fans cheered.
The league’s MVP scored 30 points for the Warriors, but his team still lost 115-101 to the Cavaliers.
After the game, Curry’s furious wife Ayesha accused the game of being ‘rigged for money’.
She quickly backtracked and deleted the tweet, but only after it had already been shared 84,000 times.
LeBron James scored 41 points in the victory putting the Cavaliers one victory away from becoming the first team to win an NBA championship after falling behind 3-1 in the Finals.
Cleveland used an explosive first half in which they led by as many as 22 points to set the tone and never allowed the usually sharp-shooting Warriors to settle into a rhythm or get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.
‘One more game left,’ James said, ‘and we’re going to give it all we got and live with the results. I’ll play it anywhere.’
James added 11 assists, eight rebounds and again outplayed Curry.
