2006–07 Cleveland Cavaliers season

Key Dates

On June 28, the 2006 NBA draft took place in New York City. Free agency began in July. The preseason opened on October 10 with a 93–109 loss to the Boston Celtics. The regular season started on November 1 with a 97–94 win over the Washington Wizards.

The Cavaliers clinched a playoff berth on March 27. On June 2, they won their first Eastern Conference championship. The season ended on June 14 with an NBA Finals sweep by the San Antonio Spurs.

Playoffs

In the First Round, the Cavaliers swept the Washington Wizards in four games. Larry Hughes scored 27 points in Game 1, and LeBron James led in scoring in Games 2, 3, and 4 with 27, 30, and 31 points respectively. In the Semi-finals, Cleveland defeated the New Jersey Nets in six games. James had 21 points in Game 1, 36 in Game 2, 30 in Game 4, and 23 in Game 6.

The Nets won Games 3 and 5. In the Conference Finals, the Cavaliers faced the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. After losing the first two games in Auburn Hills, Cleveland won four of the next five, including a 109–107 double-overtime victory in Game 5 in which James scored 48 points. The Cavaliers won the series in six games to advance to their first NBA Finals.

NBA Finals

The Cavaliers entered the 2007 NBA Finals as newcomers; Game 1 was the franchise's first Finals appearance, and the first for every player except reserve point guard Eric Snow. The San Antonio Spurs, with three championships in the previous eight seasons, won Game 1, limiting LeBron James to 14 points on 4–16 shooting. In Game 2, the Spurs led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter; a 25–6 Cleveland rally in the fourth quarter fell short. Rookie Daniel Gibson started Game 3 in place of the injured Larry Hughes but scored 2 points on 1–10 shooting.

The Cavs out-rebounded the Spurs 48–41, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a season-high 18 rebounds. James missed a potential game-tying 29-foot three-pointer on the final play. Game 3 was the lowest-scoring Finals game since 1955. In Game 4, Cleveland staged a 14–0 run to take its first second-half lead of the series, but the Spurs answered with a 12–3 rally to win and complete a 4–0 sweep.

Awards and records

LeBron James was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for November 13–19 and March 5–11, and Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March. He was selected to the All-NBA second team as a forward. On November 25, Zydrunas Ilgauskas tied a franchise record for offensive rebounds in a half (10) and a game (12). On December 6, he became the Cavaliers' all-time offensive rebound leader.

In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, James set or tied franchise playoff records for points in a game (48), points in overtime (9), field goals made and attempted (18, 33), and field goals made in overtime (4). In Game 6, Daniel Gibson set or tied franchise playoff records for points in a quarter (19), points in a half (25), rookie points in a game (31), and three-pointers in a half (5). Coach Mike Brown set the franchise record for playoff victories with his 19th. On December 23, James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 7,000 career points (21 years, 359 days).

On March 14, he became the youngest to reach 8,000 points (22 years, 74 days). On April 6, he became the second fastest to record 8,000 points, 2,000 rebounds, and 2,000 assists (311 games). James led all players in All-Star Game votes with 2,516,049, the second most in NBA history, and scored 28 points in the game. Damon Jones finished 5th in the Three Point Contest; James finished 3rd in the Skills Challenge.