Cleveland Cavaliers On Cusp Of History, Ending Cleveland’s Title Drought

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from making NBA Finals history and delivering a much-anticipated title to Cleveland.

Fifty-two years is the amount of time that has lapsed since the Cleveland Browns won the last major professional championship for the city of Cleveland. The Lake Erie Monsters clinched the Calder Cup on home ice on June 11.

The Cleveland Cavaliers can bring the Larry O’Brien trophy home with them with a win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

With a 115-101 Game 6 win Thursday night, the Cavs became the third team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after trailing the series 3-1. Now, they have an opportunity to become the first team ever to overcome that deficit in the NBA Finals.

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They would be the 11th team in NBA playoff history to accomplish the feat, joining the Warriors who did it against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals this season.

It hasn’t been an easy ride for the Cavs. Rewinding to last postseason, the Cavs lost to the Warriors in six games without forward Kevin Love and lost guard Kyrie Irving in the first game of the series. LeBron James led a heroic fight, but ultimately fell short.

Fast forward to the present day and the Cavs have battled back against a historically great Warriors team that won a NBA record 73 games during the regular season. The Dubs also have the NBA’s first unanimous MVP in the form of Stephen Curry, but he has hardly been a factor.

James has proven to be an all-time great in the playoffs, soaring up statistical charts. This postseason he’s been special, particularly in his NBA Finals performance. He is averaging 30.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, and looks like the clear NBA Finals MVP through six games.

Facing elimination in Game 5 in Oakland, James had a 41-point, 16-rebound, 7-assist performance. Defensively he also had three steals and three blocks. He followed that up with a 41-point, 11-assist, 8-rebound performance in Game 6 to send the series back to Oakland for Game 7. But he hasn’t been alone in this series.

Irving joined the fun in Game 5 with 41 points. The duo combined for 82 points and became the third duo to do so in a NBA Finals contest. In Game 6 Irving scored 23 points, and fell short of the 30-point mark for the first time in four games.

For the most part, it’s been a two-man show with James and Irving. The Cavs have had a couple of players step up at key times. Most recently, it was Dahntay Jones scoring five points to lead a 13-5 run to close the first half in Game 6, but perhaps there was no bigger performance than Tristan Thompson. He notched his third double-double of the series by scoring 15 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

In Game 3, the Cavs had the aid of J.R. Smith. Smith scored 20 points, grabbed four rebounds and had three steals. Thompson was also big in this game with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds.

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Moving forward to Game 7, the Cavs are going to battle with all of the momentum in the series. Having won two straight games in convincing fashion, the pressure remains on the Warriors to defend their championship.

Andrew Bogut was ruled out for the remainder of the NBA Finals with a knee injury, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Bogut’s injury hurts the Warriors depth, and it could be getting even worse.

During Game 6, forward Andre Igoudala went back to the team’s locker room twice to be treated for back spasms, according to CBS Sports’ Sam Vecenie. Curry came up holding his wrist after a foul away from the basket in the third quarter. He remained in the game and appeared to be fine.

The Warriors are banged up and have lost their depth because of injuries and inability to perform. Harrison Barnes was having a good postseason up until the past few games in the series. Barnes is shooting a miserable 2-for-22 (9.1 percent) from the field and is 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) from three-point range. Barnes is typically a key offensive option for the Warriors, but he has disappeared in the two clinch scenarios.

The Cavs have suffered their own problems with injuries and ineffectiveness. Notably, Love sat out of Game 3 because he couldn’t pass the NBA’s concussion protocol, according to USA Today‘s Jeff Zillgitt and Michael Singer.

He has also been ineffective in the series. In fact, Love’s play had been so bad that fans started a GoFundMe page to get Love to sit out of Game 6, according to Newsnet5 in Cleveland.

Love played 33 minutes in Game 5 and shot 1-for-5 from the field, scoring two points, grabbing three rebounds and picking up four fouls. Love did not play in the fourth quarter of that game.

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In Game 6, Love again struggled to find any success. In the first half, Love picked up three fouls in three minutes of playing time. He bounced back in the second half, but only hit 1-of-3 shots. He finished with seven points and three rebounds.

The way the Finals are formatted, the teams will have two days to rest and prepare for the pivotal winner-take-all Game 7. The Warriors get an opportunity to match lineups and try to find a way to answer being outmatched in two straight games.

Cleveland has been playing loose, despite facing elimination in each of the past two games. All of the pressure remains on Golden State, the defending champions, to close out the series on their home court.

More hoops habit: 2016 NBA Finals: Game 6 Recap And Highlights

The past two games have been a slam dunk for King James and the Cavs, and now they are on the cusp of winning their first NBA Finals in franchise history, and delivering Cleveland their first major sports title since 1964.

Sunday night will be a big night in NBA history.