Cavs comeback over GSW #2 in B/R’s best NBA Finals series since 2000

The 2016 NBA Finals comeback over the Golden State Warriors by the Cleveland Cavaliers was a run that us fans of the Wine and Gold will never forget.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the Warriors that regular season had just broken the NBA’s single-season record for wins with 73, and they ended up taking the first two outings of the series at home. Cleveland would then end up getting Game 3 at home, but would then lose in Game 4, with Golden State taking a commanding 3-1 lead.

From there though, was when LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and company would turn things around. The Cavs would ultimately come back from that 3-1 series deficit, and win Cleveland’s first title in major pro sports for over 50 years.

Overall, while game-to-game, there were ups and downs for the Cavs and from Golden State’s standpoint more so later, it was still a series packed with excitement, and to that point, David Kenyon of Bleacher Report recently ranked that one as the second-best NBA Finals series since 2000.

This seems about right to me as a Cavs fan.

For how the Cavaliers would then take advantage with Draymond Green suspended in Game 5, when both LeBron James and Kyrie had 41 points, and then Cleveland came up huge in Games 6 and 7, this seemed about right.

As Kenyon alluded to, this series was filled with “storylines.” That’s why it was rightfully ranked highly in this list.

There was obviously the 3-1 deficit overcome in general, but again also how James and Irving had big-time Game 5s, for one, when the Cavaliers desperately needed it. From there, in Game 6, LeBron had another 41-point performance, as Kenyon hit on, and in that one, had 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks, too.

Plus, in that outing, Tristan Thompson, as he did in plenty of the key stretches of the series for the Cavs, was crucial as well. In that Game 6, he had 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Lastly, moving on from there, Game 7 was packed with all the drama one would’ve anticipated in that instance. The game itself was fairly ugly for stretches, and the Cavs and Warriors would have their struggles on offense.

Draymond Green, of all people, did have a big first half and had 32 points in the contest, but J.R. Smith kept the Cavaliers in things in the third quarter to stay within striking distance. And in the fourth quarter, particularly down the stretch, things got very interesting, leading to two huge moments in it, both of which Kenyon hit on.

First, there was LeBron’s chasedown block of Andre Iguodala in transition with 1:50 left to keep the game tied, which gave Cleveland so much juice, one would’ve thought at least.

That was something in itself, and I was losing my mind a little bit then.

A roughly minute of game time later, then Kyrie Irving hit what would be the go-ahead, and ultimately, game-winning shot, on a side step three, when Curry was switched out on to him. What an unreal shot, in that moment, this was to ultimately bring the Cavs and Cleveland their first major pro sports title since 1964; I believe it’s the best shot in NBA Finals history, personally.

Shortly after that though, Kevin Love‘s stop when switched out on to Steph didn’t go unnoticed, either, and that gets its due from Cavs fans, too.

Anyway, when you factor in the LeBron/Cavs and Curry/Warriors being such bitter rivals, and the comeback, the stuff with Draymond and LeBron/etc., this series had so much that went into it.

The 3-1 comeback, which has been the only time that’s happened in the NBA Finals, and the historical element with Cleveland/the LeBron return made this one we’ll never forget. And that’s in regards to just NBA fans in general it seems, too; I’m not going to get into the Kevin Durant Golden State-Cavs NBA Finals series the two years following, though.

Granted, this 2016 series didn’t have the same luster of the #1 Miami Heat-San Antonio Spurs 2013 NBA Finals, of which Kenyon had at #1 on his list, but this Cavs-Dubs one was pretty darn memorable still.