NBA Finals 2016: 5 things we learned from Cleveland's win

Cleveland Cavaliers
History was made by the Cavs

Much has been said and written about the Cavs’ resilience that helped them rally from 3-1 down to take the NBA Finals in 7 games. Over the course of this off-season, every play, every second of this series is going to be dissected to pieces. LeBron James’ triple double in a slightly subdued offensive game by his own royal standards set this series, Kyrie Irving’s clutch 3 late in the 4th that eventually buried the Warriors, Love’s tenacious defence on Curry, everything that both teams had done, came down to the last 3 minutes of the series.

The finals were tightly contested, but the individual games weren’t as even, with the average victory margin being 26 points in the first three games. The 73-win juggernaut was finally stopped at home, where they had lost only 2 in the regular season. The kid from Akron now called the King led the Finals in all primary stats, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA title in franchise history.

Fans who were once burning LeBron’s jerseys are now going to coronate the King for the joy he’s brought to Cleveland and north-eastern Ohio. Here are 5 things we learned from these NBA Finals:

🏈 Get in the game with our NFL Playoff Predictor. Blend games & predictions, shape playoff outcomes! 🏆

1) Stephen Curry is ‘Super-human’, he can be super AND he can be human

Stephen curry
Curry was not able to lead the Warriors to another NBA title

Steph Curry needs no superlatives, he is the greatest shooter of all-time, moves with great intent without the ball, has one of the craftiest ball-handling skills, and can sneak in a couple of steals every game.

Little attention to detail on the part of the defence, and he can wreak havoc like no other mortal alive, BUT, and it’s a big but, he still IS human. Curry averaged 30.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 6.7 apg through the regular season, a season which saw a unanimous NBA MVP for the first time ever. He also led the league in steals with 2.1 steals a game.

His numbers in the Finals dropped to a very human 22.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 3.7 apg though. Sneaky-hands Steph could only manage 0.9 steals a game in the series. He was largely outplayed by Kyrie Irving on both ends of the floor, and the 3 that Kyrie made with the game tied at 89 apiece, was testament to that and largely symbolised the way that match-up ended throughout the series.

2) Draymond is the real ‘captain’ of these Warriors

Draymond Green
Green was one of the best players for the Warriors

The party starts when Draymond arrives. He is this team’s core, their outspoken leader, who wouldn’t think twice before getting his hands (or legs!) dirty.

He was the only player on the home floor in Game 7 who played with the intensity deserving of a warrior, a defending champion, and a starter on the team that set a regular season record with 73-wins.

Green’s one-game suspension not only led to a loss on their home floor, it gave belief to the Cavs, the belief that eventually caused one of the greatest upsets in Finals history (after being down 3-1 at one point).

3) Kevin Love is a fighter, and he can defend for his life

Kevin Love
Love’s game 7 heriocs will not be forgetten

It has always been believed that the modern day league is meant for really good two-way players or supremely elite one-way players. Kevin Love was once the latter, he is now neither, or wasn’t until the dying moments of the 4th in Game 7.

His defence on Curry with the Cavs leading by 4 exhibited more intensity than I’ve even seen Love show on the defensive end, where he’s usually a sitting duck.

He fought for a position back in the starting line-up in the Finals coming back after clearing the league’s concussion protocol, crashed the offensive and defensive boards in Game 7, and then hounded Curry on that key play like his life was on the line, eventually coming out on the right side of the result.

4) Tyronn Lue made way better adjustments than Steve Kerr did

Tyronn Lue
Not many expected Lue to win the NBA Championship with the Cavs

With the Dubs leading the series 3-1, and Game 5 going to the Oracle Arena, most people had written the Cavs off. Not Tyronn Lue though. The man who is best remembered as the guy who got stepped over by Allen Iverson had other plans for this series.

It’s ironic that according to popular belief, one of the many factors that lead to his team’s win was a step-over by his man, James over Draymond Green, a play that led to actions that got the latter suspended for a game (compounded by earlier misconduct as well).

However, it is one of the many many factors that potentially played a role. Take nothing away from Lue, he may not have been coaching the better team, but his coaching team had the better plan and executed that beautifully.

He made all the right adjustments, especially on the defensive end, which largely contributed to the eventual score-line. Even when Draymond was going berserk shooting those threes in Game 7, he did not panic and restricted the free flowing Warriors brand of basketball and forced them to make isolation plays and tough contested shots.

On the offensive end, his players made some key plays and got things done. He knew his group wasn’t low on talent, they were low on execution, he just got them oiled well enough to execute. The fact that he had two generational talents on his team, only helped his cause.

5) Cometh the moment, cometh the ‘Bron!

LeBron James
James is probably the best player in the world

Take nothing away from the Cavs, their coaching staff or the stupendous play and hustle of Kyrie Irving, but when the moment came, the ‘King’ took his rightful place, on the throne!

LeBron averaged a monster 29.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 8.9 apg, 2.6 spg and 2.3 bpg, and led the Finals in all 5 of these stats, obviously the first of its kind feat in Finals history. Like Phil Jackson said, he had to play like a man possessed and he did; taking over games and still assisting his teammates on key plays.

The chase-down block was back in action, and his emotions were probably at an all-time high. For a kid from Akron, Ohio, who was raised by a single mom, what a return gift to give to his kids on Father’s Day.

LeBron has always symbolised the passing of the torch to the next generation, from Jordan to possibly Kobe and onwards to him, this Father’s Day wasn’t about the previous generation, it was about the next.

Not your usual, ‘Won it for my Father on Father’s Day’, but won it as Super-Dad for his kids on Father’s Day. This may not go down as his best ever, considering he doesn’t have many more seasons to play, it will definitely be one of his finest ever!

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor