Cleveland, it is time to Celebrate. The wait is over. 52 years of pain and suffering in the world of sports has come to an end. Cleveland is more than Believeland tonight. It is home to champions.
It all started six years ago LeBron left the Cavaliers organization and the city of Cleveland for the Miami Heat. The city and fans were devastated, heartbroken. His jersey was burned, and he was hated by his hometown. What made matters worse is that he won two championships for the Heat. The city of Cleveland was hurt, and believed those championships should have been theirs. In 2014 LeBron came back and promised he would bring his hometown a championship.
Last year he led the Cavs to the finals but lost to the Warriors in six games. Kevin Love got hurt in the first round and Kyrie Irving got hurt in game one of the finals so many people said the Warriors win was a fluke. Many said they would not have beat the Cavs if they were healthy. The Cavs also fired David Blatt in favor of Tyrone Lue. The pressure was mounting for Cleveland. This year they got a rematch with both teams healthy and this time LeBron delivered on his promise.
This game seven was one of the best games I can remember. The game went back and forth. There were countless ties and lead changes. There were breath taking moments. It was captivating. Epic. Entertaining. Riveting. Legendary. It had everything you could want in the final game of a championship.
The series had games that were blowouts but the series was still as close as it could ever get. After 27 quarters of the finals the total score was Warriors 686 points and Cavaliers 685 points. With two minutes and 50 seconds left in the game the score was 89-89. The game was tight.
At halftime the Warriors led 49-42 and were led by Draymond Green who had a first half to remember. He had 22 points and went 5-5 from the three point line. Steph Curry had a sub par showing for his standard and so did Klay Thompson. In the end Draymond Green’s performance wasn’t enough as the Cavaliers became the first team to come back down 3-1 in NBA Finals history.
LeBron finished with his usual stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and got his seventh finals triple double. He was consistent with his play but Kyrie was the game changer.
It all started when Kyrie Irving took over in the third quarter scoring 12 points and bring the Cavs back into the game. After that the game was a nail biter the rest of the way. He also hit the game changing three pointer with 53 seconds left in the game that ultimately sealed the deal and helped deliver the city of Cleveland a championship.
Cleveland your time to celebrate is now. The drought is over.