The 2016 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2015–16 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven series, the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the defending champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors in seven games to win their first championship in franchise history. The series began on June 2 and ended on June 19. Cleveland's LeBron James was unanimously voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), after averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks. He was also the first and only player in NBA history to lead all players in a playoff series in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
The Warriors, who finished the regular season 73–9, breaking an NBA record, were considered favorites to repeat the title, having previously won in 2015 against the Cavaliers. The Warriors won three of the first four games and led 3–1 before the underdog Cavaliers bounced back by winning three straight games to clinch the title. With the win, the Cavaliers became the first team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit in the NBA Finals, while also ending the 52-year championship drought among the major professional sports leagues in Cleveland, known as the Cleveland sports curse.
The Finals also marked the first since 1978 that a game seven was won by the road team. Cleveland's comeback, as well as James's performance in the series, which included a clutch block in Game 7 on Andre Iguodala, have it considered as the greatest Finals of all time. This was the first NBA Finals since 1997 in which both teams won a total of at least 130 combined regular season games.
Background
Cleveland Cavaliers
This was Cleveland's second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and third overall, seeking to win their first ever NBA championship. This would also be the sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance for LeBron James, the most for any player not part of the 1960s Boston Celtics, and the fifth for James Jones (who technically qualified for the 2011 NBA Finals along with James, but did not play).
Despite holding the best record in the Eastern Conference at 30–11 midway through the season on January 22, 2016, the Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt. Associate head coach Tyronn Lue was then promoted to replace Blatt. General Manager David Griffin cited "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision" as the reason for Blatt's firing.
Cleveland finished the regular season with a 57–25 record, capturing the Central Division title and the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. They then advanced to the Finals after sweeping both the Detroit Pistons during the first round and the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals before defeating the Toronto Raptors during the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. The Cavaliers were the first team in history to go to two consecutive NBA Finals with rookie head coaches.
Golden State Warriors
This was the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors' second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals and eighth overall. The Warriors broke the record set by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls by finishing the regular season with a 73–9 record. In addition, the Warriors broke numerous other NBA records, including most road wins (34), best start to a season (24–0) and longest regular-season home win streak (54 dating back to the 2014–15 season). They also became the first team to make over 1,000 three-pointers in the regular-season with 1,077, eclipsing the previous record of 933 set by the 2014–15 Houston Rockets.
The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry, who was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second straight season. The Splash Brothers twosome of Curry and Klay Thompson were the highest scoring duo in the league, combining to average 52.2 points per game. Head coach Steve Kerr missed the first 43 regular season games because of a back injury. Assistant coach Luke Walton served as interim head coach during Kerr's absence and he led the Warriors to a 39–4 start.
In the playoffs, the Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round and the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals in five games each. Curry missed six games in the first two rounds due to injuries. He missed two games after tweaking his right ankle in Game 1 against the Rockets. In his first game back in Game 4, Curry sprained his right knee and was sidelined for two weeks, missing four games. In Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, the Warriors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 96–88, becoming only the 10th team in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit, and advancing to a second straight NBA Finals for the first time since 1947 and 1948.
Road to the Finals
Cleveland Cavaliers (Eastern Conference champion) Golden State Warriors (Western Conference champion) 1st seed in the East, 3rd best league recordRegular season 1st seed in the West, best league recordDefeated the 8th seeded Detroit Pistons, 4–0First roundDefeated the 8th seeded Houston Rockets, 4–1Defeated the 4th seeded Atlanta Hawks, 4–0Conference semifinalsDefeated the 5th seeded Portland Trail Blazers, 4–1Defeated the 2nd seeded Toronto Raptors, 4–2Conference finalsDefeated the 3rd seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–3
Regular season series The Warriors won the regular season series 2–0.
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 89–83 on Christmas 2015, in a low-scoring, NBA Finals rematch. Draymond Green led with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Stephen Curry added 19 points despite calf issues. LeBron James led Cleveland with 25 points, but the Cavs shot just 5-of-30 from 3-point range. By their 2015 meeting, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love had recovered from their injuries that plagued them in the 2015 Finals. Their next match-up came during a 132–98 Warriors blow out win at Quicken Loans Arena on January 18, 2016. Just a few days later, head coach David Blatt was fired by general manager David Griffin, despite the team having the best record in the Eastern Conference, and assistant Tyronn Lue took over for the remainder of the season.
Series summary For the first time since 2004, a new scheduling format was instituted for the Finals. In the previous years, the Finals were played in a Thursday–Sunday–Tuesday scheme. However, the league changed its scheduling to ensure an extra day off for both teams when traveling between the two cities. This, along with the designated travel day, took place after Games 2, 4, 5, and 6 in subsequent finals. This scheduling change was necessary as a result of the National Hockey League instituting a new scheduling format for its championship series that went into effect beginning in 2016.
Game Date Road team Result Home team Game 1 June 2 Cleveland Cavaliers 89–104 (0–1) Golden State Warriors Game 2 June 5 Cleveland Cavaliers 77–110 (0–2) Golden State Warriors Game 3 June 8 Golden State Warriors 90–120 (2–1) Cleveland Cavaliers Game 4 June 10 Golden State Warriors 108–97 (3–1) Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 June 13 Cleveland Cavaliers 112–97 (2–3) Golden State Warriors Game 6 June 16 Golden State Warriors 101–115 (3–3) Cleveland Cavaliers Game 7 June 19 Cleveland Cavaliers 93–89 (4–3) Golden State Warriors
Game summaries All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
Game 1
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 104–89 in Game 1 to take a 1–0 series lead. The Cavaliers led 68–67 before the Warriors broke the game open with a 29–9 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 96–76 lead. Cleveland cut the deficit to within eleven points at 98–87 after an 11–2 run, but Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson nailed back-to-back three-pointers to essentially seal the victory for Golden State. While Curry and Thompson had a rough night combining for 20 points, the Warriors got a lift from its bench, outscoring the Cavaliers' bench 45–10. Shaun Livingston scored his playoff-career high 20 points to lead Golden State, while Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 26 points. LeBron James fell one assist shy of a triple-double (23 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists).
Game 2
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 110–77 in Game 2 to take a 2–0 series lead. Cleveland took a 28–22 lead about two minutes into the second quarter, but Golden State answered with a 20–2 run while outscoring the Cavs 30–16 the rest of the period. During the run, the Cavaliers' Kevin Love suffered a head injury while attempting to grab a defensive rebound. Love stayed throughout the remainder of the period but did not play the second half. The Warriors continued to dominate Cleveland from there, outscoring the Cavaliers 58–33 in the final two quarters. Draymond Green led all scorers with 28 points, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. Curry and Klay Thompson added 18 and 17 points, respectively, while drilling four three-pointers each.
With their victory, Golden State posted the highest winning margin in the first two Finals games with a 48-point differential. James led Cleveland with 19 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and four steals, surpassing John Stockton for fourth on the all-time playoff steals list. However, James also committed seven turnovers in the loss.
Game 3
The Cavaliers avenged their lopsided defeat to Golden State by routing the Warriors 120–90 in Game 3 to cut the series deficit to 2–1. Cleveland scored the game's first nine points en route to outscoring the Warriors 33–16 after one quarter, but Golden State rallied to trim Cleveland's lead as low as seven points on a couple of occasions before the Cavaliers settled for a 51–43 halftime lead. In the second half, Cleveland continued to extend their lead and outscored Golden State 69–47. Love did not play due to a concussion. James led all scorers with 32 points, while Irving added 30 points for the Cavaliers. Curry led the Warriors with 19 points, while drilling four threes. Harrison Barnes also contributed 18 points in 33 minutes of play.
Game 4
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 108–97 in Game 4 to take a 3–1 series lead. After averaging just 16 points in the first three games of the series, Curry scored 38 and was 7-of-13 on three-pointers. Golden State made 17 three-pointers, then an NBA record for a single Finals game. They made only 16 two-point field goals, the first time in Finals history a team made more shots from three-point range. Klay Thompson added 25 points and four three-pointers for Golden State. It was the Warriors' 88th win of the season, which broke the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls record of 87 for most wins in an NBA season (regular-season and postseason combined).
Green and James had to be separated in the closing minutes of the game, when Green fell to the ground and James stepped over him. Feeling disrespected, Green swung his arm and appeared to make contact with James' groin.
On an NBA TV broadcast after the game, a photo captured James starring straight ahead in sunglasses wearing Powerbeats during a postgame interview. Below the photo of James read a graphic, "No team in NBA Finals history has come back from trailing 3–1 (0–32)". This photo later became a viral meme after the Cavs became the first team in NBA history to comeback from 3–1 in the Finals.
Game 5