Cavaliers win NBA championship as LeBron James has game of his life
Oakland, California: Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Finals, defeating the Golden State Warriors 93-89 in Sunday's deciding Game 7.
This is the first major sports championship that a Cleveland team has won since 1964.
In perhaps the biggest game of his career, LeBron James had the game of his life. James was named Finals MVP after scoring 27 points, 11 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.
James returned to his hometown team in 2014 after an acrimonious split in 2010. He joined the Miami Heat with fellow All-Stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, winning two titles there.
He decided to return to the Cavs in 2014 hoping to end the title drought for Cleveland.
"The people of Cleveland deserve this more than any other people I've ever seen or met or felt," Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said. "No group deserves this more. No fan base deserves this more. I'm speechless and proud of everybody." When asked why this championship felt different, James kept his answer simple: "I'm home."
"This is what I came back for," he said. "It doesn't feel real." LeBron James was unanimously named MVP of the NBA Finals for the third time following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 93-89 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 on Sunday.
Over the seven-game series, James averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists with an effective field goal percentage of 53.3. He became the third player to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the Finals, joining Jerry West in 1969 and James Worthy in 1988.
Later, Irving compared James to Ludwig van Beethoven: "I'm very thankful that I have a guy like that that's leading our team that I can continue to learn from. And when my time does come of being able to lead a franchise and see the landscape of how it's supposed to be composed, I watched Beethoven right now of LeBron
James compose a game. James won consecutive Finals MVPs in 2012 and 2013, when he notched his first two titles with the Miami Heat. He returned to Cleveland as a free agent in July 2014 In addition to delivering the city its first major sports championship since 1964, James led the Cavs in becoming the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit to win the Finals. James punctuated his historic Finals performance with a dramatic final two minutes of Game 7. With the game tied 89-89, James pursued the reigning Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala, on a Warriors fast break and recorded one of his trademark "chasedown" blocks as he rejected Iguodala's layup attempt.
Complete Scores by Quarters of the NBA Finals
CLE
23 19 33 18 93 GSW 22 27 27 13 89