Let's take a look back at Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors went into the Q and came out victorious 108-97. The win put Golden State one win away from capping their historic season and capturing back-to-back titles. All they needed to do was win Game 5 back in their building in Oakland. Before this season, 32 teams that had gone down 3-1 in a series, had not forced a game 7, let alone win the championship. But the 33rd team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, didn't want to hear about that.
After all the drama in game four, the weight of the world had fallen on LeBron James' shoulders. But as Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, Tyronn Lue said: "If you don't think we can win, don't get on the plane." Before Game 5, LeBron said: "it's not hard, just have to go out and do your job. Give everything that you have to your team and your teammates. I know what I'm capable of doing and I know what our team is capable of doing. Especially in a do or die game." In Game 5 at Oracle, LeBron was getting booed even during the warmups. "The King" went out and silenced the Warriors fans as he and Kyrie Irving went for 41 points each. The Cavaliers won in Oracle, 112-97 forcing a Game 6 back at the Q.
Before Game 6 back in Cleveland, Draymond Green said that if he hadn't gotten suspended the Warriors would have been back to back champions.“I have strong belief that if I play Game 5, we win,” Green told reporters Wednesday. “But I didn’t because I put myself in a situation where I wasn’t able to play.” (Des Bieler Draymond Green says Warriors would have won title already if he hadn’t been suspended) However, In game six, LeBron went for 41 points once again and Stephen Curry got ejected as the Cavs won 115-101 to prevent a repeat ending of the 2015 finals.
With the win in Game 6, the Cavaliers forced a Game 7 back at Oracle for all the marbles. Game 7 was an instant classic, going back and forth until the score got stuck on 89 for what seemed like an eternity. That was of course, until Kyrie Irving drained a 3-pointer right in Stephen Curry's face. Cleveland will remember that shot as well as the infamous block. The Cavaliers won their first championship in franchise history. The question now is, can they repeat?
Going into this season the Cavaliers come back looking almost identical to the team that won the championship this past season. However, Matthew Dellavedova signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and Timofey Mozgov signed with the LA Lakers. Cleveland also lost, guard, Dahntay Jones as he was waived. The Cavs made sure to keep their nucleus intact of Irving, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and "The King." But due to moves made in the offseason, there's a super team in the bay area.
It seems as though Golden State got scared of the Cavaliers, and so they felt that they needed to form a superteam. Adding Kevin Durant into the picture, but the problem with getting Durant for the Warriors is that they had to lose a bunch of their players that came off their bench as well as two starters. Festus Ezili signed with the Blazers, Harison Barnes went to the Mavericks, Leandro Barbosa went to Phoenix. Andrew Bogut was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. But they've still got Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to knock down 3's left and right.
During the regular season, the Cavaliers ranked 8th in 3 point percentage and in the offseason, they didn't get another shooter to spread the floor. But they did trade with the Atlanta Hawks and added Kay Felder, from Oakland, who shot .355% from beyond the arc last season. The Cavaliers also ranked 8th in points per game last season, 104.1 points per game.
The rest of the league is already predicting a trilogy in the finals this coming season between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the Warriors forming a superteam, and the Cavaliers mostly remaining the same, it looks as though that will happen. Here's hoping the Cavaliers come out on top again.
