Wrap-Up – After losing two-thirds of its “Big Three” as the playoffs progressed, the Wine and Gold went to levels no one could have expected – with their unquestioned leader carrying them on his back through the NBA Finals. But the clock struck midnight in Game 6, and the Golden State Warriors held off a late Cavs rally to win the NBA Championship, beating Cleveland, 105-97, on Tuesday night at The Q.
LeBron James put the wraps on a heroic, historic postseason run with one more monster effort – leading everyone with 32 points and 18 boards, adding nine assists and a pair of steals.
In the six-game series, James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 boards and 8.8 assists. The 11-time All-Star led both teams in all three categories, becoming the first player in NBA Finals history to do so.
LeBron also averaged over 41 minutes per game in the series – including a 46-minute run in Game 6. The game’s greatest player still managed to save something for the final quarter, notching 10 of his 32 points in the fourth as Cleveland made its final push.
After dropping the previous two games by double-digits, the Cavaliers fell behind early on Tuesday night – trailing, 28-15, after one quarter. But true to their postseason M.O., the Wine and Gold clawed their way back and Tristan Thompson’s put-back dunk right before intermission cut Golden State’s 13-point lead to just a deuce.
Thompson’s hook-shot early in the third gave Cleveland a brief lead in the third quarter, but three-pointers by Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green put Golden State back in control.
The Cavaliers trailed by double-digits through most of the fourth quarter, but J.R. Smith – who’d struggled from the floor through the series – got red-hot, notched 15 points in the final quarter, including a three-pointer with 33.2 to play that cut the Warriors’ lead to just four – 101-97. But Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala hit their free throws to ice the victory and give Golden State its first NBA Championship in 40 years.
Iguodala, who sacrificed his starting role earlier in the season but was re-inserted into the starting lineup after Game 2, was named the Finals MVP after averaging 16.3 points in the series, including a season-high 25-point performance in Tuesday night’s clincher.
All three members of the Cavs frontline notched double-doubles on Tuesday night.
Aside from LeBron’s massive effort, Tristan Thompson wrapped up a strong Finals performance with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Game 6 loss. The fourth-year forward, making his first foray into the postseason, doubled-up in the last four games of the Finals and grabbed double-digit boards in all six games and averaged 13.0 per contest in the series.
Timofey Mozgov returned to the form that saw him tally 28 points and 10 boards in Game 4 (before going scoreless in nine minutes in Game 5). In Tuesday’s elimination matchup, Mozgov finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and a game-high four blocks – as many as the Warriors as a team.
J.R. Smith rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures – scoring 15 of his 19 points in the final 8:23 of the game. Smith went 5-for-15 overall from the floor, 4-of-9 from long-distance.
But like the Cavaliers’ other guards, Smith struggled sporadically from the floor throughout the Finals.
On Tuesday night, Cleveland’s backcourt trio of Smith, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova went a combined 6-for-24 from the floor, including 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. Aside from Smith, James Jones was the only other Cavalier to log significant minutes off the bench, but he too struggled shooting the ball – going 0-of-4 from beyond the arc and 1-of-5 from the floor overall.
The Wine and Gold shot just 39 percent from the floor and 23 percent from downtown on Tuesday night – their third straight game of sub-40 percent shooting. In the series, the shorthanded Cavaliers went just 38 percent from the field, 29 percent from deep.
On Tuesday night, it was turnovers more than their cool-shooting that killed the Cavs. They had nine miscues in the first quarter and 13 by halftime – finishing with 19 on the night, accounting for 25 Warrior points.
The Cavaliers took 10 more free throws than the Warriors and dominated Golden State on the board, 56-39. But Cleveland scored just 15 points in the first and 18 in the third and accumulated just four fastbreak points on the night.
LBJ posts near triple-double.
View some of the best snapshots.
LBJ steal and slam.
Go inside the locker room.
Watch final game highlights from Game 6.
Turning Point – The game’s turning point took place right after halftime, as the Wine and Gold fired one of their final salvos of the season, nearly erasing a double-digit deficit right before intermission making their move in the opening moments of the third.
The Cavs trailed by just a bucket to start the second half and Mozgov’s layup on Cleveland’s second possession of the stanza tied the game at 45-apiece. After Iguodala’s miss on Golden State’s next possession, Thompson scored to give Cleveland its first lead since the seven-minute mark of the first quarter.
But Harrison Barnes’ trey put the Warriors back in front and Iguodala’s dunk following another Cavs turnover and Draymond Green’s trey quieted the crowd as Golden State took a six-point edge.
The Cavaliers didn’t get closer than four the rest of the way.
By the Numbers – 5 … straight games that LeBron James tallied at least 20 points, 12 boards and eight assists – the only player in NBA history to achieve that feat.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the shorthanded Cavaliers – without the services of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao – falling short in the 2015 NBA Finals …
”Tried as much as we could to try to make up for those guys, but that’s a lot of talent sitting in suits. I’ve had a lot of playoff runs, been on both ends, and I know one thing that you’ve to have during a playoff run – you’ve got to be healthy. You’ve got to be healthy. You’ve got to be playing great at the right time. You’ve got to have a little luck. We were playing great, but we had no luck and we weren’t healthy.”
Up Next – After an inspiring playoff run that saw them push the best team in basketball to the limit, the Cavaliers will now prepare for the NBA Draft – where the Wine and Gold have the 24th and 53rd overall picks – next Thursday night.