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The idea of the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers forming the NBA's next biggest rivalry seemed unlikely at this time 4 years ago. Neither of these teams has historically been model franchises. Before their first Finals meeting in 2015, the Warriors hadn’t won a championship since 1975, and the Cavaliers had never won one. And now, fast forward 4 years, they have become this generations' Lakers and Celtics.
The teams have now met in the NBA Finals in each of the last four seasons, marking the first time that any of the four major American professional leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) have had the same championship matchup four times in a row. This rivalry has provided us with a plethora of great moments and bad blood between the two teams.
The team's bad blood has often continued on and off the court during this tenure and has always been accompanied by exciting and fantastic basketball. This rivalry surely deserves to be in the pantheon of great rivalries in the history of the NBA.
Let us look at the top 10 moments from this epic rivalry:
Note: For this list, we have considered the best moments and not the best performances in this rivalry.
10. Kyrie saves Christmas with a game winner
The Warriors after being humiliated by the Cavaliers in 2016 NBA Finals, added one of the best scorers the game has ever seen in Kevin Durant. The Christmas Day matchup between these teams was the first time they were playing against each other since Game 7 of the Finals last year.
It was one of the most anticipated matches of the season. It didn’t disappoint as ended up being one of the best matches of the season and the only close match of the regular season between these two rivals.
The Cavaliers trailed 94-80 early in the fourth quarter. But Kyrie Irving, who had a slow start to the game, scored 14 fourth-quarter points. Six of the 14 points came in the final five minutes of play, which also included the game-winner that gave the Cavaliers a 1-point lead.
Kyrie drove into the body of Klay Thompson and hit a fade-away jump shot to seal the deal for the Cavaliers. With 3.4 seconds left in the game, Golden State had one last chance but Kevin Durant lost his balance coming off a screen and couldn’t get off a shot as time expired.
Irving finished with an impressive stat line of 25 points, 10 assists, 7 steals and 6 rebounds and once again showed his clutch gene to the world as the Cavaliers went onto defeat the Warriors 109-108. Although the Warriors would end up winning the championship that year against this same Cavaliers team, the Irving winner marked another amazing moment in the Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry.
9. The Warriors and the Cavaliers troll each other over the years
In a rivalry like that of the Warriors and the Cavs, there are bound to be trolls and trash talk over a span of 4 years, especially considering the bunch of players both the teams have.
Draymond Green quite possibly intoxicated conducted a rambling interview during the Warriors' championship parade after winning the 2015 NBA Finals. Amongst his numerous statements, Green said that the Cleveland Cavaliers “suck.”
LeBron James after completing the unlikely 3-1 comeback against the Warriors in 2016 NBA Finals wore an 'Ultimate Warrior T-Shirt at the parade to mock Golden State. Or did he?
According to James, it was a mere coincidence that he wore that particular T-Shirt on that day.
Well, even if LeBron didn't purposefully wear this T-Shirt, it was turned to be the perfect troll at the Warriors.
The Cavs put up a portrait of the block in the visiting locker room, just in time for the Christmas Day game against the Warriors. They even went as far as to photoshop in the championship ring on LeBron’s left hand.
Prior to this slight jab, LeBron threw a Halloween Party with some 3-1 lead themed decorations. There were tombstone cookies with the Warriors’ players names on them. Not to mention the bass drum with the caption “3-1 lead” inscribed on it. This trolling only added to the animosity of the rivalry.
After LeBron (coincidentally) trolled the Warriors in 2016, Draymond Green got his revenge as he jabbed the Cavaliers with a sly sartorial choice in Golden State's 2016 parade.
Green showed up at the parade wearing a shirt that read "Quickie," with a picture of the Finals trophy - an apparent reference to both the quick five-game series and the Cavs' home arena - the Quicken Loans Arena.
Draymond Green outdid himself this time around after the 2018 win with a spectacular T-Shirt.
The shirt is a remake of the famous Arthur meme, with three championship rings on the fingers, and the caption “Mood...”. It’s a shot at a social media post by James during some of the Cavs’ struggles earlier in the season; James posted a picture of the commonly-used angry fist, with the same caption.
8. Klay Thompson's comment about LeBron after Game 4,2016, LeBron Reacts back
One of the most contentious moments of the 2016 NBA Finals occurred in Game 4, James had stepped over Green, which prompted the Warriors All-Star to seemingly hit LeBron below the belt. The two then got into a bit of trash talk, where James later revealed that Green had called him a b****.
When Klay Thompson spoke to the media, he said that trash talk is a part of the game. He didn’t know why some players can’t get over some things that are said on the court.
When asked about LeBron's reaction, he said:
“Obviously people have feelings. People’s feelings get hurt if they’re called a bad word. I guess his feelings just got hurt.”
When LeBron was told about Klay's comments by the media, LeBron chuckled and said that it is so difficult to take the high road and he has been doing it for the last 14 years. He declined to react to Thompson’s comments and said that he is going to take the high road again.
Although a man of LeBron’s stature didn't need any kind of motivation at that point of time, Thompson’s comments might have fueled the 4 time MVP as he went onto put up superhuman numbers in the next three games and lead the biggest comeback in NBA Finals History.
7. Warriors go small with Iggy in starting line-up from Game 4 of 2015 Finals
The Warriors were facing an uphill task ahead of them entering into Game 4 of 2015 NBA Finals and desperately needed to win on the road to keep their hopes alive of winning their first championship. Everybody on the Warriors staff was looking for answers to help the team get even with the Cavaliers, even the special assistant to the head coach who’s responsible for putting together videos for team film sessions.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, Nick U’Ren was the person who sparked the idea of inserting Andre Iguodala in the starting lineup for Game 4. U'Ren drew inspiration from Game 3 of the of 2014 NBA Finals when San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich made the unorthodox decision to replace Boris Diaw for Tiago Splitter in the starting lineup and decided to go small which turned the series around.
Head Coach Steve Kerr took his advice and decided to insert Igudola into the starting lineup and start with the then dreaded small ball death lineup. Igudola, who had never started as a Warrior, came up big as he went for 22 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 44% from three-point range and 53.3% from the field. To add to that, he put his maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor as he was given the toughest assignment of trying to slow down LeBron James.
This move by Steve Kerr turned the series around as the Warriors would win the next two games to finally win the championship. Iguodala became the closer for this team and ended up with 16.3 points,5.8 rebounds, and 4 assists while knocking down 52%of his shots per game in the Finals. He was declared the 2015 Finals MVP for his spectacular performance.
6. George Hill & JR Smith throw away Game 1 of 2018 Finals
The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met for the 4th consecutive time in 4 years. Heading into Game 1, the Cavaliers were massive underdogs with the news line being that the Cavs are short of All-Stars and LeBron has absolutely no help around him. That proved to be true in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.
With Cleveland leading 104-102 and approximately 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Warriors forward Kevin Durant drove to the basket against the Cavaliers' Jeff Green. As Durant, driving left, turned the corner on Green, he met LeBron James (as the help defender) in the lane, where the two superstars collided.
Official Ken Mauer, the game's crew chief, initially whistled Durant for a charge, with possession returning to Cleveland with 36.4 seconds remaining and a two-point lead. Later the crew decided to review the call to examine whether James was situated fully outside the restricted area and ended up reversing the call saying that it was a blocking foul rather than a charge which sent Durant to the line with for 2 free throws.
With only 4.7 seconds left in the game, George Hill (an 80% free throw shooter) had a chance to give the Cavaliers a 1-point lead and potentially a chance to win and steal game 1. Hill makes the first one but misses the second free throw and the rebound went to J.R, who dribbles the ball out to mid-court forgetting that the Cavs weren’t winning and also had forgotten that the Cavs had one timeout left with them.
James’ reaction when he went to the bench afterwards and asked Ty Lue if the team still had a timeout at that time, summed up the kind of season that the Cavaliers have had and showed the impossibility of James’ situation that he has to do his absolute best to combat both the super-powered Warriors and the ineptitude of his own teammates.
He ended with a stat line of 51 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and still couldn’t defeat the Warriors. The Cavs were not able to come out of this blunder mentally which lead to the warriors sweeping the Cavs and winning their 3rd championship in 4 years.
5. Kevin Durant's game-winning shot over LeBron in Game 3,2017
The Game 3 of 2017 NBA Finals showed us a rise of a superstar at the biggest stage of the game. The Warriors had won two of their home games and were looking for a win on the road to hold an improbable 3-0 lead. But it seemed like LeBron had company had the game in their control as they lead 113-107 after J.R. Smith made a three-pointer with 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.
The Warriors from that point went on an 11-0 nothing run with Durant scoring 7 of them, including a pull-up three in James' face with 45.3 seconds remaining.
"That was the best moment I ever had," Durant told Zach Baron of GQ. "I made the game-winning shot in the finals against my f**king idol. Somebody that I really, really, really followed since I was a ninth-grade high schooler. I felt like he was passing the torch to me."
This dagger 3 in front of LeBron proved that Kevin Durant had arrived. The Warriors went onto defeat the Cavs in 5 games to win their second championship in 3 years. Durant was named the Finals MVP as he averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the series.
4. Kevin Durant hits the deep dagger in Game 3 of 2018 Finals
Have we ever seen a player hit the same shot, from the same spot against the same team at almost an identical time in two different games?
That is what we saw Kevin Durant do in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals.
The Warriors, similar to the previous year, entered into Game 3 with a 2-0 lead in the series. With both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggling shooting the ball, the Warriors were hanging around due to Durant's offensive brilliance. With less than a minute remaining in the game, the Dubs led by 3 three points. Kevin Durant with the shot clock winding down, hit a dagger over J.R. Smith to seal the game for the defending champs. And it was a deep dagger, almost from the Cavaliers logo.
Curry and Green's reaction to Durant game-winning three said it all. Durant ended the game with 43 points, 13 boards and 7 dimes in a 110-102 victory. His classic performance in Game 3, arguably the best of his career, and his Deja Vu dagger three helped the Warriors sweep the Cavs and defeat them for the 3rd time in the past 4 years.
He won the Finals MVP award for a second straight time.
3. Draymond Green gets suspended for Game 5 in the 2016 Finals
The Warriors having won the first 2 games of the 2016 NBA Finals, were completely outclassed in Game 3 and therefore were looking for redemption in Game 4. It felt like the series was over with the Warriors in command having a 10-point lead with just less than a 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. At that moment, James and Green got tangled up near half court, Green fell to the floor, James tried to step-over Green as he was down, and Green responded by swinging in James' direction.
A double foul was called at that time. On further review, the league converted that into a flagrant foul as the Warriors forward seemed to have hit LeBron below the belt. A one-game suspension to Green was issued as he had accumulated a total of 4 flagrant fouls in the playoffs. James revealed later that Green had called him a b----.
Although the Warriors ended up winning 108-97 in that game to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Cavs, the loss of Draymond Green for the closeout Game was a tragic one. LeBron, seizing the opportunity, led his troops to an epic comeback coming back from 3-1 deficit to win it all.
Many pundits and analysts are of the belief that if Draymond Green isn’t suspended for Game5, the Warriors would have been back-to-back champions.
2. LeBron blocks Curry, Curry gets ejected in Game 6,2016
The Cavaliers were looking strong heading into Game 6 after an epic performance from their two superstars. Things had gotten pretty personal between the two parties, and particularly between LeBron and several members of the Warriors. James after being hit in the groin and being called names by Draymond Green in Game 4, also got into it with the Steph Curry.
With just over 4 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter, Cavs were in full control with a lead of 13 points. Curry went for a drive, faked the layup, but LeBron guessed it and sent him packing, blocking his layup attempt. Then he let him knew about it.
That was some message sending if there ever was any. James looked back at Curry after the block and reminded him whose house it was. Even though Curry was the first unanimous MVP in the history of the NBA, LeBron let him knew that he was still the best player in the world. This was one of the most entertaining moments in this rivalry and it clearly showed that LeBron had gotten into the head of the Warriors.
Just seconds later, Curry got called for his 6th foul of the game as he went for a steal from LeBron. Curry, obviously frustrated with the proceeding of the game, threw his mouthpiece at a fan and got ejected for the first time in his career.
Although Curry ended the game with 30 points, the Cavs were able to dominate over the Warriors and were able to force a Game 7 which they ended up winning.
#1 Game 7 of the 2016 Finals
‘Game 7’ of the 2016 NBA Finals is undoubtedly the best match we have seen these two teams play against each other regarding the situation and with the championship at stake.
The Game stood tied at 89 apiece with just under 2 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter of Game 7 in the 2016 NBA Finals. LeBron provided one of the greatest defensive plays in the history of this great game as he chased down Andre Iguodala on a 2-1 break to block his layup attempt against the backboard.
Although most of the recognition is given to LeBron James for the Cavs win in 2016 for his herculean performance, it was Kyrie Irving who hit a historical stepback three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Steph Curry with less than a minute remaining to give the Cavs 3 points lead.
Even though the Cavs had a three-point lead, there was still enough time for the Warriors to run a play and even the Game especially with Curry and Thompson on the floor. But Kevin Love did a marvellous job of staying in front of Steph Curry as he got switched onto him and never allowed him to get a clear look at the basket.
The Warriors never scored again and the Cavaliers ended up winning the championship. The ‘Big 3’ for the Cavs showed up when it mattered the most and gave us the greatest comeback in the history of this league.
Guess the Lakers players!
