6. 2015 NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers (4-2)
Competitiveness: 7/10
Conclusion: 7/10
Overall excitement: 8/10
Average score: 7.3/10
It’s time to talk about what might be the greatest “what if” NBA Finals series we’ve ever had. Two franchises who hadn’t seen much success in the last 50 years were now pitted against each other in their first NBA Finals appearances of the decade.
On one side were the Golden State Warriors. Led by first-time MVP, Stephen Curry, the Dubs held a league-best record at 67-15. Alongside Splash Brother Klay Thompson and emerging star Draymond Green, Curry helped bring Golden State back to the Finals for the first time since 1975.
On the other side, the Cleveland Cavaliers were living on cloud nine. WIth the homecoming of LeBron James, the rise of Kyrie Irving and the addition of Kevin Love, the city truly felt like a championship was on the way.
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It didn’t take long for that feeling to change. A freak injury in round one would rule Love out for the remainder of the postseason. While this was happening, Irving was nurturing a nagging knee injury that had already caused him to miss two games and play limited minutes in others.
Still, when the Finals began, both franchises felt confident in their teams. Game 1 gave us everything we wanted to see, with a thrilling game that went into overtime. Sadly, this is where Irving’s knee injury would finally come back to haunt him as he fractured his knee cap and was sidelined for the rest of the series. Before the injury, Irving had put up 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks, including the game-saving block on Curry to force overtime.
While the remainder of this matchup should have been boring without the presence of Irving or Love, a heroic performance from James and a surprise coming-out party for Matthew Dellavedova kept this one interesting. Curry struggled in Games 2 and 3, while Delly received all of the credit for playing so hard on both ends of the floor that he actually needed to be hospitalized for dehydration.
Luckily for fans of the Warriors, Andre Iguodala came up big time while Curry played through his dry spells. The gritty defensive effort from Iggy managed to slow down an already monstrous performance from James. While Steph did eventually find his shot and light it up in the final few games, it was Iggy who played consistently the best and knocked down every clutch shot the Dubs needed. As a result, Iggy was crowned the Finals MVP as the Dubs won the title in six games.