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How The Cleveland Cavaliers Are Shocking The World

By Gerald Bourguet

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a play against the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a play against the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a play against the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Heading into 2015 NBA Finals, nobody outside of Ohio gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a fighting chance. LeBron James returning home was the feel-good story of the season, and the Cavaliers breezed through the Eastern Conference playoffs, but the Golden State Warriors were a 67-win juggernaut on the precipice of capping off their historic season with a championship.

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That’s not an exaggeration; the Warriors very nearly led the league in both offense AND defense this season. They had the highest point-differential, they had the league MVP and they had only lost at home three times all season long — an advantage that amplifies like the roar of Oracle’s decibel-defying crowd when you consider they had home-court advantage in this series.

And yet, three games into the Finals, the Warriors stand on a completely different and unexpected precipice. Heading into Game 4, the shorthanded Cavaliers have the opportunity to push the Dubs off the ledge and into postseason oblivion.

But how did we get here? How did the Cavaliers take a 2-1 lead in this series while suiting up LeBron, Matthew “I’m Not Touching You” Dellavedova and three other players he might as well have picked up off the street? Are the Warriors just having a nightmare series or could we be in store for one of the greatest upsets in NBA Finals history?

As Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving watch from the sidelines, and the rest of the world watches with bewildered intrigue, it’s worth Dellavediving into how the Cleveland Cavaliers are so close to immorality as one of the best and most unlikely championship stories in NBA history.

Next: Are The Cavs Better Now?

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