2016 NBA Finals Game 7 vs Cleveland Cavaliers

Lore & Background

The Warriors finished the regular season 73–9, breaking an NBA record, and were favorites to repeat as champions. They won three of the first four games and led 3–1 before the Cavaliers bounced back by winning three straight games to clinch the title. The Cavaliers became the first team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit in the NBA Finals. The Finals also marked the first since 1978 that a Game 7 was won by the road team.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Quicken Loans Arena was thick with tension as the clock wound down in the final minute of Game 6. The crowd roared, sensing history unfolding on the hardwood floor beneath the players' feet. Warriors fans watched anxiously from afar, knowing one basket could send them back to Oakland for a decider. Instead, the Cavaliers held firm, their defense suffocating and their offense precise.

Reader's Guide

Game 7 was played on June 19, 2016, at Oracle Arena in Oakland. The Cavaliers won 93–89. LeBron James made a clutch block on Andre Iguodala in Game 7. James was unanimously voted NBA Finals MVP, averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks. He was the first and only player in NBA history to lead all players in a playoff series in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.

Did You Know?

• The Warriors broke the NBA regular-season record with a 73–9 record.
• The Cavaliers were the first team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit in the NBA Finals.
• LeBron James was the first and only player to lead all players in a playoff series in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
• This was the first NBA Finals since 1997 in which both teams won at least 130 combined regular season games.