Cleveland Cavaliers: Every Record Broken In Historic Playoffs

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a historic NBA Finals, but they were breaking franchise and NBA records throughout the entire postseason.

The Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run this year was one of the greatest in NBA history for many reasons.

Statistically, Cleveland maneuvered through one of the more difficult playoff schedules and achieved one of the greatest upsets in NBA history against the historically great 73-win Warriors. According to stat analyzing site FiveThirtyEight, since 1984, Cleveland’s playoff run ranks 5th best by a champion with the second-biggest upset in a Finals.

What’s even more incredible is that, along the way, Cleveland made all kinds of history, including breaking several records. Here is a recap on this unbelievable and historic championship run.

April 27, Game 4 vs. Detroit (Quarter-Finals)

1. Cavs break record for most threes in a 4-game series, making 57 against the Detroit Pistons (previous record 49).

May 4th, Game 2 vs. Atlanta (Semi-Finals)

2. LeBron James moves to 5th all-time in playoff scoring, passing Tim Duncan.

May 6, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Channing Frye (9) shoots a jump shot past Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) during the second half in game three of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Cavaliers defeated the Hawks 121-108. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Cavs set NBA record for most made three-point field goals in a game, regular season or playoff, with 25 (previous record 21).

4. Cavs break a NBA record and franchise playoff record for most made three-point field goals in a half with 18.

5. Cavs break franchise playoff record for made three-point field goals in a quarter with 8.

6. J.R. Smith breaks a franchise record for made three-point field goals in a half with 6.

7. Cavs break team playoff record for points in a half with 74.

May 6, Game 3 vs. Atlanta (Semi-Finals)

8. Cavs become the first team in NBA history, regular season or playoffs, with at least 20 three-pointers in consecutive games (25 on May 4th and 21 on May 6th).

9. Cavs set record for most three-point field goals made following a game in which that team made 20-plus threes, with 21 (previous record 13).

10. Cavs 21 threes in Game 3 marked the sixth time in NBA playoff history that a team made at least 20 threes. The 2016 Cavs had three of those.

May 8, Game 4 vs. Atlanta (Semi-Finals)

11. Cavs win Game 4, making it 12 straight playoff wins against the Hawks, tied for longest active win streak against a single opponent.

12. LeBron becomes one of four players to have multiple 8-0 starts in postseason history: 2009 and 2016, joining Magic Johnson in 1982 and 1989, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1982 and 1989 and Michael Cooper in 1982 and 1989.

13. Cavs become ninth team in NBA history to start 8-0 in the postseason; the last team to do so were the 2012 Spurs.

14. Cavs made 77 threes in the Semi-finals, tied for the second most made threes in postseason history. The other teams did it in 7 games, the Cavs did it in 4.

15. Cavs become first team in NBA history with at least 15 three-pointers in 4 straight games.

May 17, Game 1 vs. Toronto (Conference-Finals)

16. LeBron records his best shooting percentage of his playoff career, shooting 84.6 percent from the field on 11-of-13 field goals for 24 points.

17. LeBron and Kyrie Irving record their highest combined shooting percentage as teammates: 73.3 percent on 22-of-30 field goals (LeBron 11-for-13, 24 points and Kyrie 9-for-17, 27 points).

18. Cavs become first team since the 2000-02 Lakers to win 16 straight playoff games within their own conference.

May 19, Game 2 vs. Toronto (Conference-Finals)

19. Cavs break the 2000-’02 Lakers 16 game win streak, setting the record for longest intraconference playoff win streak at 17, the longest since 1970-71.

May 21, Game 3 vs. Toronto (Conference-Finals)

25. LeBron passes Chauncey Billups for seventh all-time in made threes in the postseason with 268.

26. LeBron passes Jason Kidd (1,263) for third all-time in postseason assists. LeBron ended this year’s playoffs third on the list with 1,348.

May 25, Game 5 vs. Toronto (Conference-Finals)

27. Cavs set the record for largest lead at halftime at 31 points, 65-34 over the Raptors

28. Cavs tie for the fifth largest Conference Final victory ever with a 116-78 win over Raptors.

29. Cavs record largest lead at the end of the third quarter since 1990 (40 points with 100-60 over Raptors).

May 27, Game 6 vs. Toronto (Conference-Finals)

30. Cavs reach consecutive Finals for first time in franchise history.

May 23, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) goes up to dunk for a basket over Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo (8) in the second quarter in game four of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

31. LeBron and James Jones reach their 6th consecutive Finals. They are the first players in 50 years to do so and have won 18 consecutive Eastern Conference series to make it there. It marks the seventh time in 11 postseasons LeBron has made the Finals.

32. Cavs are the first team in NBA history to make the Finals in back-to-back seasons with two different head coaches.

33. LeBron joins Dennis Rodman as the only players with at least three Finals for two different franchises (LeBron: Miami, Cleveland; Rodman: Detroit, Chicago).

34. LeBron sets the record for 25 consecutive series with at least one road win, breaking a tie at 24 with Michael Jordan. LeBron has clinched 5 series on the road in the past 2 postseasons.

35. Cavs outscored their opponents by 177 points to this point in the playoffs. Only the 1986-1987 Lakers entered the Finals with a larger point differential

June 2, Game 1 vs. Golden State (Finals)

36. LeBron passes Robert Horry for most career Finals three-pointers in NBA history. He ended this year’s playoffs first on the list with 68 threes.

37. LeBron becomes the only player in NBA history to be top 10 all-time for postseason points, rebounds, assists and steals.

June 8, Game 3 vs. Golden State (Finals)

38. LeBron and Kyrie are the third set of teammates in the last 20 seasons to score 30+ points each in a Finals game (the other duos: Lebron & Wade, Shaq & Kobe).

39. LeBron passes Kobe Bryant on the all-time Finals scoring list, becoming 10th all time.

June 13, Game 5 vs. Golden State (Finals)

40. LeBron James extends his road winning streak and NBA record to 26 consecutive series.

41. LeBron and Kyrie become first ever pair of teammates to score 40-plus points each in a single Finals game (41 each).

42. LeBron and Kyrie’s 82 combined points are the most by 2 teammates when facing elimination in the Finals.

43. LeBron passes Magic Johnson on the all-time Finals scoring list, becoming ninth all time.

44. LeBron passes Michael Jordan for most 20 point games in postseason history (174).

45. LeBron has the highest points per game when facing elimination at 32.4.

46. Kyrie joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to score 40-plus on at least 70 percent shooting in the Finals (17-of-24 on field goals).

June 16, Game 6 vs. Golden State (Finals)

47. Cavs become first team in 50 years to force a Game 7 in the Finals after trailing 3-1 (1951 Knicks, 1966 Lakers).

48. LeBron records his fifth 40-point game in his Finals career. All have come against the Warriors.

49. LeBron becomes fifth person in NBA history to record consecutive 40-plus point games in the Finals (Jerry West, 1965, 1969; Rick Barry, 1967; Michael Jordan, 1993; Shaq, 2000; Lebron, 2016)

50. LeBron passes John Havlicek and Tom Heinsohn on the all-time Finals scoring list, becoming seventh all time. He ended this year’s playoffs seventh on the list with 1,079 points.

51. LeBron passes Derek Fisher for fifth on the all-time postseason threes made. He ended this year’s playoffs fifth on the list with 287.

52. LeBron becomes just the second person in NBA history to record 40-plus points and 10-plus assists in a Finals Game (Other: Jerry West).

53. LeBron becomes first player in NBA history, regular season or postseason, to record a stat line of 41 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks since steals and blocks became an official stats in 1973-1974.

June 19, Game 7 vs. Golden State (Finals)

54. Cavs become first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals to win the championship. The prior 32 teams down 3-1 did not win the title.

55. Cavs become first team since 1978 to win a Finals Game 7 on the road.

56. Cavs become eighth team in NBA history to defeat a team in the Finals that they had lost to the prior year.

57. Cavs become fourth team in NBA history to win a championship after a mid-season coaching change.

58. LeBron ties for second most Finals MVPs, joining Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal with three apiece.

59. LeBron joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee, L.A.) as the only players in NBA history to win Finals MVP with multiple teams (Miami, Cleveland).

60. LeBron joins James Worthy and Jerry West as the only players in history to record triple-doubles in Game 7 of the Finals.

61. LeBron becomes first player ever in NBA history to lead all players in every category, regardless of round or series length (208 points, 79 rebounds, 62 assists, 18 steals and 16 blocks).

62. LeBron becomes only player to averages 30 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists per game in the Finals. He has done so twice.

Next: The Cleveland Cavaliers Should Sign Free Agent Dwyane Wade

63. Cavs win Cleveland it’s first major sports championship in 52 years (since the 1964 Cleveland Browns), which equates to 146 seasons. It was the longest such drought in major sports history.

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By Mikaela Rakos | Jun 30, 2016