The Golden State Warriors can now live up to their name with a gold Larry O’Brien championship trophy for this season as LeBron couldn't finish the fairy-tale ending and bring a title his hometown of Cleveland which desperately could have used one.
The start of the game was a bit slow for both the Cavaliers and the Warriors, as the two sides traded buckets back and forth for the first seven minutes of the first quarter. Cleveland took their first full timeout with 5:33 left in the quarter and Golden State started to get hot.
In the final five minutes of the quarter, the Warriors went on a 17-7 run and ended the first quarter with Golden State on top, 28-15.
Come the second quarter, it was the Cavaliers who took control of the game and put on a run of their own. Cleveland was converting on their free throws, knocking down shots, and finishing strong in the lane.
In the final 3:23 of the half, the Cavs went on a 10-5 run, capped off by a Tristan Thompson putback with three seconds left in the half, and closed the gap to only two as the Warriors went into the half with a 45-43 lead.
At the half, LeBron James was leading the scoring for Cleveland as he had 15 points, along with eight rebounds and three assists. As for Golden State, Draymond Green made his presence known on all sides of the ball, as he had nine points, five boards, four assists, two steals, and one block.
At the start of the second half, the Cavaliers were able to take a quick two point lead following a Timofey Mozgov layup and a Tristan Thompson eight-footer. However, it did not last long. The Warriors took the lead back on a Harrison Barnes three ball and did not look back.
Towards the end of the third, Golden State found themselves with a 15-point lead. Golden State was 57-0 this season when they had a 15-point lead during a game. Looks like they continued this streak to 58 games. The Warriors ended the third quarter with a 73-61 lead.
Come the start of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers were running out of the gate and looked to be unstoppable. The Cavs went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth and cut the lead to 75-68, which included a steal and slam dunk by LeBron.
Yet, the Warriors got right back to being the Warriors. Curry knocked down a three to stop the run. Shaun Livingston got a put back dunk, shocking everybody in the arean. Andre Iguodala and Curry hit consecutive three’s, taking the crowd out of the game. Klay Thompson got in on the fun and added onto the barrage of three’s and the Warriors found themselves with a fourteen point lead.
Iguodala knocked down a corner three with 6:01 left off an assist from Green, which gave him a triple-double. Draymond Green’s triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) is the fifth in the Warriors’ playoff history.
The Cavaliers tried to crawl their way back into the game late and got close, but they just could not get enough going to overcome the Warriors in the end as the Warriors won the game by a final score of 105-97.
Big games from Green, Iguodala, and Curry helped propel the Warriors to their Game 6 victory. Iguodala and Curry both finished with 25 points, and Iggy stepped up in big moments this entire series to help the Warriors.
This is the Warriors first title since 1975 and ending this drought could not be any sweeter for Dub Nation. Just three seasons ago, they only had 25 wins and now they find themselves on top of the basketball world.
The Finals MVP went to Andre Iguodala, a truly deserving man. Iggy had a huge Game 4 and Game 5 and he averaged 16.3 points per game, and scored over 20 in the final three games. He did not start a single game in the regular season and playoffs until the NBA Finals. He was called upon and delivered in a huge way.
If the Cavaliers were fully healthy and had star players Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, along with Anderson Varejao, then this would’ve been a completely different series. LeBron James tried to do it all by himself and he couldn’t do it.
That's not how things turned out and the Warriors are NBA Champions. Congratulations to the entire Warriors organization who built a solid team with several players and stepped up to do their job and came up clutch when they were needed most.
This was an incredible NBA season and hopefully we will have another season like this next season. Now, the countdown begins. Only 132 days until we see the Warriors take the floor at Oracle Arena.