[0:00]Cleveland Sports fans, stress and anxiety, elation and hope. For many of them, they've waited over five decades for the frustration and disappointment. Can LeBron James deliver that title? You've got just over six minutes to find out.
[0:15]And interestingly, Ezeeli goes back in the game.
[0:20]James drives down, stops, kicks it back up, Jefferson, a jumper, can't get it to fall and Green the rebound his 10th.
[0:28]He's two assists shy of a triple double.
[0:36]Curry with Jefferson leaning on him. Curry drives, scoop layup misses, Green on the follow.
[0:48]32 points for Draymond Green.
[0:52]Ezeeli now guarding James, as Ezeeli's back in. And Ezeeli goes for the fake, James draws the foul.
[0:59]And it appeared he was beyond the arc, Monty McCutchen checking with his fellow official to make sure.
[1:05]Good offense by Steph Curry getting into the seams, forcing the help and Draymond Green crashing the offensive boards from the weak side. This is good basketball. Green has been spectacular all night long, out working guys on the floor.
[1:20]So they will check to make sure, go to the replay as Crawford over there. And he's saying three points, three point attempt, so three free throws.
[1:30]But to me clearly contact by Ezeeli, he's behind the three point line but coach, I don't know if you agree but there's no reason to switch in that situation.
[1:40]You're doing the Cavs a favor by switching Ezeeli onto onto LeBron.
[1:47]And I'll add another one. There's no reason to contest coming off your feet. James has not made a three today.
[1:56]Hits the first free throw, and it's back to three.
[2:00]You always have to convince your bigs not to leave their feet.
[2:05]When they're contesting out here beyond the three, just put a hand up. Don't bite.
[2:11]Well, Cleveland you're going to switch that pick and roll. I'm coming back down and running the same exact action. Let's see if you can do it again.
[2:20]James now six of seven from the free throw line. He has done some extraordinary things in his career but a victory tonight would be his greatest accomplishment in bringing a title back to Cleveland.
[2:32]His team down by two with just under five and a half to play. And he hits all three clutch free throws there.
[2:40]Cavaliers talking about how they're going to defend the pick and roll with Steph Curry and the message comes, they want to switch the pick and roll.
[2:46]Curry throws it away, an errand pass.
[2:50]10th turnover for Golden State. This is a bad play.
[2:55]And he knows it, a bad decision. These are the plays that he's got to eliminate, especially closing out games.
[3:01]And that's his fourth turnover.
[3:06]The pace has completely slowed down.
[3:09]We see the big pick and roll again and they switch again.
[3:12]Good job by Draymond Green getting back.
[3:15]Five to shoot. Ezeeli again goes back up on him. James steps back for three, puts it in. LeBron James from downtown and the Cavaliers go up by two.
[3:27]26 for James.
[3:30]Thompson gets away from Smith, drives, left-handed off the glass.
[3:36]And Steve Kerr going back to Harrison Barnes, I'm sure for Ezeeli and Love coming back in as well.
[3:44]And there's no knock to Ezeeli, it's just bad game planning as far as putting him on the body of LeBron James. It's easy offense and you're allowing him to attack.
[3:53]Once again, Ezeeli. James, this time goes at him, pulls back. Two point shot.
[3:58]And Green grabs another rebound. His 12th.
[4:04]Curry downtown off the mark. Jefferson able to snare it.
[4:09]And Mike, we're used to seeing that's great offense, a great screen, him wide open.
[4:14]We're used to seeing that one go down.
[4:17]Irving trying to get away from the double team. Throws it back up to James.
[4:22]James to Smith, seven to shoot.
[4:28]James backing up against Curry. One on the shot clock. Way off the mark.
[4:33]And a 24 second violation, ball knocked out of bounds and it's going to be Golden State ball with 3:40 remaining.
[4:40]Harrison Barnes is going to come in for Ezeeli.
[4:46]We've had 20 lead changes and 11 ties.
[4:52]And the reason why that doesn't hurt you defensively because Green is defending Tristan Thompson, so when the pick and roll comes is Green switching with Iguodala and it makes you better offensively also with Barnes on the floor.
[5:04]Game 7 is tied with three and a half to go here in the fourth.
[5:12]Green back to Thompson.
[5:15]Thompson spins, shoots over Irving, can't get it to fall and Kevin Love his 13th rebound.
[5:22]Again, I think Cleveland would be better served to get into whatever they're getting into quicker.
[5:29]Now we're going to see J.R. Smith probably set the screens getting Curry in the action.
[5:36]Curry now picks him up. Five to shoot. James powers, drives down the lane, layup missed it. Iguodala contested.
[5:46]Draymond Green kicks it out. Iguodala for three. Rebound James and he's fouled by Curry.
[5:54]That's going to be four fouls on Curry, third team foul, and we'll take a time out as we get under the three minute mark.
[6:04]But you want to win, this has got to be the mindset. This is good defense and good offense, that's both the ways championship effort and on the other end.
[6:14]Clearly the contact by Curry forced James to go down. We have ourselves a ball game, a champion soon to come.
[6:25]Two 50 remaining, fourth quarter of game seven. The only triple doubles in the history of a game seven of the finals were from Jerry West and James Worthy until tonight as LeBron James with 26, 10 and 11.
[6:39]And Green this time, a power move to the basket. But Iguodala right there.
[6:48]That's clearly contact, yeah, Iguodala got away with it.
[6:54]And those are the tough calls to make. Meanwhile, Draymond Green, one assist shy of a triple double to join James. Irving will bring it up.
[7:11]James holding, throws it in the Love guarded by Barnes. Love a little jump hook, short. Rebound Green. 14 rebounds for Draymond Green to go with 32 points.
[7:23]Again, I think Cleveland would be better served to get into whatever they're getting into quicker.
[7:27]Curry finds Iguodala, drives, kicks it out Barnes. Barnes out to Green, puts up a three, won't go. And Cavs get it back with 2:11 remaining.
[7:40]That's great rotation by the Cleveland Cavaliers. James closes to the opposite corner. Love pulls the trigger onto Green. Terrific defense and very good offense by the Warriors.
[7:54]And good offense on the Cavs part on the last possession with Love taking a tough shot. But if I'm Kyrie Irving or LeBron James, the offense is running through me right now.
[8:03]Irving drives, hop step inside, floats it up, misses. Rebound taken by Iguodala.
[8:08]Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala up for the layup. Oh, blocked by James. LeBron James with the rejection.
[8:18]Wow.
[8:21]His third block of the game as we come up on a minute and a half remaining.
[8:27]But again, get into your stuff quicker.
[8:32]Four to shoot. James inside, little jump hook, that's short. Rebound tipped and taken by Curry.
[8:44]Curry drives on Irving, pulls back for three, doesn't even hit the rim as Irving comes the other way.
[8:53]And Tyronn Lue wants a timeout. Takes one of his final two timeouts left with 1:09 remaining and a tie game.
[9:09]Oh my goodness.
[9:16]Great pass by Curry, running hard by Iguodala and superhuman defensive recovery by LeBron James.
[9:33]I'm not sure I like Shumpert on Curry in this situation. Steph Curry's had a rough fourth quarter. First, the behind the back pass and then terrific screen by Ezeeli, we expect those shots to go down by Curry and here, don't tell me that's a bad shot. That's the shot he's been living on, one for four from the field, three points here in the fourth.
[9:57]A low scoring fourth quarter, it's 14-13. There you see the numbers, the triple double from LeBron James and Curry missing shots we've seen him hit all season long in what has been an electrifying game seven here at Oracle Arena.
[10:11]And Mike, Ty Lue elects to take out Tristan Thompson, insert Richard Jefferson. Offensively that'll give him more space, but if it's not a timeout defensively, that's a real challenge for the Cavaliers against the likes of Curry and Thompson.
[10:29]Each team has a foul to give as we come up on a minute remaining and they're putting Curry in the pick and roll, trying to get him on Irving.
[10:41]Irving and Curry, one-on-one. Irving puts it up, it's good. Kyrie Irving from downtown. And the Cavaliers by three.
[10:49]And I like the no timeout call by Steve Kerr.
[10:56]Love picks up Curry. Curry steps back, fakes the three, drives again. Shut off nicely. Bound to Green, seven to shoot. Curry fakes the three, steps back, crossover, puts up a three, won't go. Rebound James with 30 seconds remaining.
[11:10]What a spectacular job by Love.
[11:13]Irving on the drive goes inside, lost it. Gets it back and finds Love. There's a seven second difference between shot clock and game clock. And they had a foul to give, so Barnes fouls him there.
[11:25]But that's a bad foul, Mike, that gives him three extra seconds and what was Kyrie Irving doing in transition.
[11:38]James will inbound. Now there's a 4.7 difference between shot clock and game clock. Cavaliers have one time out left. Can go in the backcourt in the last two minutes to get it.
[11:50]But they've got to manage this clock. They don't want to go early.
[11:53]Irving drives to James, misses the jam but fouled. James will shoot two free throws as he goes down hard with 10.6 remaining. And the Cavaliers leading by three.
[12:06]And Mike, that's a good play by Draymond Green. That's a championship play because if he gets the dunk, it's basically over.
[12:15]To the paint, LeBron takes the spill. Hopefully he's all right, but that's the right defensive play by Draymond Green. James holding onto that right wrist a bit.
[12:25]And the medical staff and almost the entire team from the Cavaliers, the entire bench running down to see if he's okay.
[12:37]10.6 seconds remain. Cleveland was down eight in the third quarter, down four here in the fourth and now lead by three.
[12:49]Let's see the play once again.
[12:56]A great find from Irving and Draymond Green. That's that's a clean foul. It's a foul, it sends them to the line and you see LeBron goes down hard. Fortunately, he's up walking to the bench.
[13:07]The big thing on that injury is Cleveland had to take their last timeout. So if they have trouble getting the ball in, if Golden State scores, it's going, you cannot have any more timeouts.
[13:25]So James will go to the free throw line. A hard fall, he's seven of eight from the line, holding on and punching that right fist.
[13:38]I can't say enough about the job Kevin Love did on that last possession defensively against the two-time MVP in Curry.
[13:50]Warriors have two timeouts remaining.
[14:21]Rattles in the second, four point game. Timeout Golden State.
[14:30]Cleveland does have a foul to give. LeBron James now with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
[14:41]Some huge plays in the fourth quarter for Cleveland, including this one. They came out of the timeout set to get Steph Curry on Kyrie Irving. They get exactly what they want. Everybody out of my way, it's time to dance. Get some one-on-one, lulls them to sleep, forces a late contest. That's a big time offensive play by Kyrie Irving, but it's a play he's made his entire life, the ability to score and flat out get it done on the offensive end.
[15:07]Irving now with 26 and back in Cleveland. These fans realize they're 10.6 seconds away now from a championship.
[15:17]And I'm not sure I like Shumpert on Curry in this situation.
[15:23]Do you use your foul right here? I would say yes. I'd be on the top side, I would make them go to their second play.
[15:33]And you can't forget about Mo Speights either.
[15:36]That great point, I totally agree. I take the foul on this possession, forcing them to take it out again.
[15:42]Curry runs off. Iguodala looking. Thompson catches. Thompson a couple of dribbles. Head fake tied up. Throws it in to Green on a foul on the entry pass. That's the foul to give. And now they'll take it out of bounds with 6.5 remaining.
[15:58]And you got to make sure you're in nobody's area to allow them to knock down a three and you get contact.
[16:04]I lost the a playoff game on a phantom four point play to Jeff Van Gundy.
[16:09]Iguodala to inbound. Shumpert trying to stay with Curry, catches. One dribble, steps back, puts up a three, won't go. Rebound tip taken by Speights, final seconds. It's over! It's over! Cleveland is a city of champions once again.
[16:25]The Cavaliers are NBA champions. Cleveland's long sports nightmare has ended. The drought is over. 52 years, time to celebrate a title. Oh my God!
[16:59]And the emotions for LeBron James who delivers on his promise to come home and bring a championship to his beloved hometown.
[17:34]James Jones's long time teammate, been with him for all six of these consecutive finals. And an emotional Tyronn Lue. As always the terrific sportsmanship. So much more to come here from Oracle Arena as LeBron James and the Cavaliers win the NBA championship.
