Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
DJ Gallo

Cleveland Cavaliers beat Golden State Warriors: NBA finals Game 7 – as it happened

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate their NBA title after victory over the Golden State Warriors
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate their NBA title after victory over the Golden State Warriors. Photograph: Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports

And that’s it for the liveblog of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. What a game. Not an all-time series. Not a great playoffs. But a Game 7 that will be talked about for years. You can read the full report here:

Cleveland is a champion. LeBron James has silenced any remaining critics. And the Golden State Warriors have no claim to the title of Greatest Team Ever.

Thanks for following along. Congratulations to the Cavaliers and their fans. Condolences to the Warriors and all those who loved Cleveland sports jokes.

Updated

Listen to that crowd.

The Cavs are the first team in NBA Finals history to come back from a 3-1 deficit.

Earlier this year, the Warriors had won 54 games in a row at home. They ended the year by losing two straight at home.

Steph Curry shot 40% from the floor in the Finals and averages 22 ppg, well off his season average. It will be interesting to hear if his camp blames his knee injury for his troubles.

Leicester City and Cleveland have both won championships in 2016.

What a year.

If that game wasn’t entertaining enough for you, here’s a link to Cleveland’s police scanner.

THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!

Steph Curry missed a three and ... it happened! Cleveland did it!

LeBron is down on all fours, crying on the court.

Unbelievable. Cleveland has won a championship.

Cavaliers 93-89 Warriors, 0:10.6 4th quarter

LeBron hits the second and they have a two-possession lead. Cleveland. It’s happening. Cleveland!

LeBron misses the first and then shakes his wrist.

Cavaliers 92-89 Warriors, 0:10 4th quarter

LeBron James is down on the court after Draymond Green fouled him as he was trying to dunk. James is up, but ... he’s clearly in pain and grabbing at his right wrist.

Cavaliers 92-89 Warriors, 0:18 4th quarter

Kyrie Irving hits a three, Curry misses his attempt, LeBron gets the rebound and ... oh, my ... we’re close. We’re close, Cleveland.

And here’s that LeBron block. Mercy.

This is still a somewhat misleading stat because the first six games weren’t all that close.

Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 1:09 4th quarter

Kyrie Irving missed a runner, setting the Warriors off on what looked like an easy transition bucket ... until James came out of nowhere (again) to swat it away.

Then LeBron missed a shot in the lane on the other end.

Then Curry threw up a really ugly brick off the backboard from three.

Take a breath.

Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 2:50 4th quarter

I don’t want to get into typical sports media hyperbole, but we’re possibly just minutes away from major history in Cleveland. Or the Cuyahoga River primarily flowing with tears. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a Cleveland fan right now.

Speaking of the non-stop goodness: 20 lead changes and 11 ties now. Let’s do a Game 8 and 9.

Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 3:40 4th quarter

Hard to keep up because it’s non-stop goodness, but LeBron has 6 points since the last update. Oh ... and the City of Cleveland is in some kind of lockdown?

Warriors 87-83 Cavaliers, 5:24 4th quarter

The Cavs continue to have no answer for Draymond Green. After Curry flips up a lay-up that missed, Green flies in for a put back. He has 32 points on the night.

Warriors 86-83 Cavaliers, 6:18 4th quarter

A LeBron bucket is followed by a deeeeep three by Steph Curry and then a deep jumper by Klay Thompson. Timeout Cleveland.

LeBron, Curry, Thompson, Irving ... maybe the announcer cliche about stars having to “step up” late in “big games” will be true tonight.

Cavaliers 81-80 Warriors, 7:40 4th quarter

Andre Iguodala just missed two free throws to keep Cleveland in the lead. He probably should have shot them from behind the 3-point line. Golden State is pretty good from there.

Cavaliers 81-78 Warriors, 9:06 4th quarter

Kyrie Irving gets his own rebound and scores to get the lead to three. No matter who wins, Kyrie Irving has proven himself in this series to be an NBA star. He should help keep Cleveland a contender for a long time.

Cavaliers 77-76 Warriors, 10:49 4th quarter

LeBron opens with a basket in the paint. We’ll see if he decides it’s his time to try to take the game over and deliver a title to Cleveland. (If you’ve not heard, they haven’t won one of those in a while. True story.)

Quick 3rd quarter recap: Kyrie Irving owned that quarter like Draymond Green did the first half. If Cleveland loses, threes will be the main reason. Golden State is now at 14-for-31. Cleveland? An abysmal 4-for-20. Yikes.

End of the 3rd quarter: Warriors 76-75 Cavaliers

Andre Iguodala hit a tough inside basket with four seconds remaining in the quarter after Cleveland squandered the clock, missed a shot and gave the Warriors an extra possession. That’s probably not what you want to do in a Game 7.

Cavaliers 71-71 Warriors, 1:56 3rd quarter

Draymond Green is back assaulting the basket from three. He’s now up to 28 on the night. And then Golden State ties it up on a transition dunk from Shaun Livingston. This is the NBA Super Bowl we wanted.

Updated

Cavaliers 70-66 Warriors, 3:03 3rd quarter

Draymond Green, the 1st half hero, scores his first points of the second half on three free throws after drawing a bit of a cheap foul on LeBron from behind the line.

Cavaliers 68-61 Warriors, 3:50 3rd quarter

Harrison Barnes scored to end the run, but Kyrie Irving followed with a three to grow th lead to 7 points, Cleveland’s biggest of the night.

And now for a fun look at how Anderson Varejao “plays” “basketball.”

Cavaliers 65-59 Warriors, 4:33 3rd quarter

Cleveland extends its lead on five consecutive points by Kyrie Irving, adding to an 11-0 run. The Cavs have come all the way back with LeBron being quiet scoring the ball so far this quarter. They’re like a real team!

By the way, I wrote earlier this week that Kyrie Irving is more critical to Cleveland winning than LeBron. Hey! I got one right!

Cavaliers 60-59 Warriors, 5:47 3rd quarter

Cleveland takes the lead on a beautiful Kyrie Irving transition bucket after a bad Steph Curry turnover. It’s our 13th lead change of the game. Were their 13 lead changes in the previous six games?

It’s probably not a coincidence that Golden State’s little run has come with Harrison Barnes on the bench. He continues to be a liability. Win or lose, Barnes lost a ton of money this series.

Warriors 59-54 Cavaliers, 7:38 3rd quarter

Curry gets a bucket in transition and then hits a three off a screen to give Warriors a 5-point lead. Maybe he has decided to make his long-awaited appearance in the second half of Game 7.

The MVP has 14 points in the game, second-best in the game behind only Green’s 22.

Warriors 54-54 Cavaliers, 9:11 3rd quarter

Golden State takes their largest lead of the night after Klay Thompson hits a three and then a nice short jumper. But then J.R. Smith answers with a three, only Cleveland’s second of the night. Seems the Cavaliers have decided that making their threes might be a good thing to do.

Annnnnnd there’s Smith with another three. NBA Finals hero J.R. Smith! He has eight points in the opening minute of the third quarter.

And now a quick basket from Kyrie Irving. Seemingly seconds after Golden State extended their lead to 8 points, it’s tied.

Updated

Third quarter underway!

Warriors 49-44 Cavaliers, 11:25 3rd quarter

J.R. Smith hits a deep two for Cleveland. Let’s just award them 3 points since they’ve struggled from deep.

If Cleveland can use halftime to petition the league to reward a point for rebounds, you have to think they’re the favorites to win.

If Steve Kerr could pick one player in a Game 7 at home, I’d bet that he’d lean towards Draymond Green.

Well, this couldn’t have helped the Cavs’ chances.

Steph Curry has just 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first half. If Golden State’s margin holds, the Warriors will have won the NBA title without a single “Steph Curry game.” That might not be great for the legend of Steph Curry -- or at least as bad as the Curry 2s -- but it will prove that the Warriors are a deep team.

Yeah, this is a quick way for a team to build a lead.

End of the 1st half: Warriors 49-42 Cavaliers

Golden State’s lead is due to two things: Draymond Green’s brilliance and Cleveland’s inability to hit from three. Green is well on his way to a triple-double, with 22, 6 and 5 so far, while the Cavaliers only have one triple all night. They’re 1-for-14 from three, led by J.R. Smith -- of course -- who is 0-for-4.

Updated

Warriors 47-42 Cavaliers, 1:09 2nd quarter

Shumpert hits two free throws after getting fouled by Steph Curry, who is now out of the game with three fouls. The Golden State crowd doesn’t like the call. They seem to be biased for the Warriors. Huh!

Warriors 47-40 Cavaliers, 1:58 2nd quarter

Barbosa hits a three after some more Draymond Green dominance and Golden State has its biggest lead of the night.

In other news, LeBron really doesn’t like Steph Curry:

Don’t be this dad. It’s Father’s Day, and the guy’s son is ashamed of him in public. As he should be.

Warriors 41-40 Cavaliers, 2:35 2nd quarter

Another huge block by LeBron, this time on Leandro Barbosa. Right now this game is kind of LeBron vs. Draymond Green with everyone else just running around. Not that I’m complaining. It’s fun to watch.

Warriors 41-38 Cavaliers, 3:31 2nd quarter

Draymond Green is now 5-for-5 from three. This is the game we’ve all been waiting for Steph Curry to have, but in Draymond Green’s body.

Warriors 35-35 Cavaliers, 4:20 2nd quarter

Kyrie Irving scores on a drive down the lane, but this happened on Golden State’s previous possession.

LeBron is getting very good and sending Steph Curry’s lay-up attempts off the court.

Warriors 35-33 Cavaliers, 5:43 2nd quarter

There’s another three by Draymond Green. He’s now 3-for-3 on the night and has a game-high 13 points. Perhaps he is applying to be the third member of the Splash Brothers.

Updated

Cavaliers 33-32 Warriors, 6:00 2nd quarter

After Steph Curry picks up his second foul of the game, he gets out of the way of LeBron in transition and Cleveland re-takes the lead. In fairness, getting out of LeBron’s way in transition is a healthy life decision regardless of one’s foul total.

Updated

Cavaliers 31-29 Warriors, 6:55 2nd quarter

Iman Shumpert hits a three and is fouled by Livingston for a 4-point play.

Kevin Love continues to do work underneath. He just drew a foul on Harrison Barnes while going after a rebound. Since Barnes hit his first shot, he’s missed four in a row. So much for the hot start.

Warriors 29-27, 7:55 2nd quarter

Kevin Love misses a three from straightaway, putting Cleveland at 0-for-7 on the game.

There have been seven lead changes so far. This is the game we wanted. Thanks, Game 7!

Warriors 29-27 Cavaliers, 8:48 2nd quarter

Draymond Green now has a game-high 10 points. He also has 4 assists and is 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 from three. Best of all: he has a 0 in the Crotch Assault stat category.

Warriors 26-25 Cavaliers, 9:35 2nd quarter

Mo Speights is bringing energy off the bench for the Warriors and his fellow benchmate, Shaun Livingston, now has 4 points to give Golden State the lead.

Officially ... yes. But he’s been mostly invisible so far.

Cavs are out-rebounding the Warriors 16-8 through one quarter. But Golden State has five made threes to still zero for Cleveland. And so we have a 1-point game ... and maybe the first close game of this series.

End of the 1st quarter: Cavaliers 23-22 Warriors

LeBron hit two free throws after driving to the basket on Cleveland’s last possession of the quarter and Cleveland takes the lead.

Golden State hit some shots in the first quarter, Cleveland missed assignments on D ... and yet the Cavs have the lead. Encouraging for Cleveland fans. Also encouraging: Kevin Love is on pace for 20 points and 28 rebounds.

Warriors 21-21 Cavaliers, 0:37 1st quarter

Kevin Love just grabbed his 6th rebound, backed into Varejao underneath (Varejao attempted to flop ... really!) and earned two free throws. So far, this is Love’s best game of the Finals.

Warriors 21-18 Cavaliers, 1:06 1st quarter

Another three by Steph Curry. Golden State is now 5-for-10 on the night from deep. Cleveland is 0-for-3.

LeBron just checked out to rest until the 2nd quarter.

Warriors 16-16 Cavaliers, 2:29 1st quarter

Cavaliers take a timeout. Probably to watch this awesome LeBron dunk again.

Warriors 13-12 Cavaliers, 3:55 1st quarter

Klay Thompson hits a jumper, his first points of the night, after LeBron’s third turnover. Then LeBron clangs a jumper. Uh-oh, Cleveland.

Warriors 11-10 Cavaliers, 5:26 1st quarter

LeBron with his second turnover of the night. He’s had 5 total turnovers in the previous three games.

Warriors 11-8 Cavaliers, 6:35 1st quarter

Steph Curry hits a three to give Golden State the lead again. His first attempt was an air ball.

We’re in a timeout, so here’s and odd stat through approximately 1/8th of the game: Kevin Love and Festus Ezeli are leading their respective teams in shot attempts.

As I said at the beginning of tonight’s liveblog, no one knows anything.

Warriors 8-8 Cavaliers, 7:04 1st quarter

Kevin Love just scored for Cleveland by overpowering Festus Ezeli inside. Tough play by Love. Our narratives are being ruined!

Warriors 5-4 Cavaliers, 9:30 1st quarter

Harrison Barnes just hit a huge three. It gave Golden State the lead, but Barnes was 2-for-22 in the previous two games. If he’s hitting, everything changes for the Warriors.

Cavaliers 4-0 Warriors, 10:30 1st quarter

After the Cavs and Warriors trade missed baskets, Tristan Thompson hits inside and then LeBron scores in transition. Cleveland has the lead. If they lose, now the LeBron haters can say he “choked with a lead.”

Tip-off!

We could be 2 1/2 hours from Cleveland being a champion.

Welcome to everyone who was following The Guardian’s liveblog of the US Open. If you enjoyed the USGA stepping in with a controversial call on Dustin Johnson, you’ll probably love the NBA. It’s officials are great at getting involved.

The bulk of this year’s NBA playoffs was a letdown. Even the first six games of this series didn’t have a game that finished with a margin closer than 11 points. But I think we’ll forget all of that if tonight is awesome. Help us out, basketball gods (or NBA game-riggers, if you are of that school of thought).

Nick Young isn’t known for always making the greatest decisions. And even he knows the NBA isn’t rigged.

So let’s put an end to that once and for all.

Anderson Varejao getting in some last-minute stretching. You don’t want to hurt yourself flopping and be unavailable to flop later in the game.

Tipoff is in exactly 23 minutes.

My guess is this is not the last Michael Jordan reference we’ll hear tonight.

Thank you for your honesty. But I will hold up my wrong record in this series to anyone.

This bit of historical precedence doesn’t have the same weight in this instance. Defending champs have an edge because they’re experienced in the Finals. But LeBron has been in the Finals every year since forever. He has more playoff experience than anyone on the Warriors and Cleveland has the momentum.

Here’s Kevin Love making a shot in case we don’t see it again tonight:

Good news for Warriors fans, Steph Curry is locked in!

On the other hand, before Game 6:

And also before Game 5:

I assumed much of the time between now and the start of the game would be filled with putting up Ayesha Curry’s various basketball conspiracy theory tweets, but she’s been focusing more on cooking that devious, league-wide plots over the last 24 hours or so.

So, instead, here’s a tweet from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr (from 2014):

He probably shouldn’t share this opinion with his team before the game.

There is still about an hour until the tip, so if you want to get into the game, you can grab tickets for just ... $735 a seat.

Most tickets are well into the thousands, however.

Also, be sure to figure in the cost of whatever kind of super-jet that would be required to get you to Oakland, California, in the next hour.

Thousands of Cavaliers fans were already gathering outside Quicken Loans Arena two hours before tip-off in Oakland. Well, thousand of Cavaliers fans and one guy in a Darrelle Revis jersey.

Good news for the Warriors: Steph Curry’s shooting accuracy might be back on the level of his mouthguard throwing accuracy.

Game 7s in the championship round are obviously huge. And conspiracy theorists aside (hi, Ayesha Curry!), the NBA doesn’t produce them too often. Since 1994, there have been a grand total of three before tonight:

  • 2013: LeBron’s Heat over Spurs
  • 2010: Lakers over Celtics
  • 2005: Spurs over Pistons

This Game 7 has much more on the line than any of those series did, however. The Warriors capping a 73-9 season with a championship is a BIG story. LeBron potentially bringing a championship to Cleveland is even bigger. This one game will have a huge impact on the story of the NBA and Cleveland’s sports history. All due respect to the cultural behemoth that is the Super Bowl, but Cavs-Warriors Game 7 is bigger than the Panthers-Broncos match-up of four months ago.

Welcome to the liveblog of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. As always, feel free to e-mail to the address above or tweet to @DJGalloetc to participate.

Some three weeks ago, before the Finals tipped, sports editor Tom Lutz assigned the liveblog duties for each scheduled game. One of the games I was booked for was Game 7. I didn’t expect the series to last that long, I didn’t think I’d be here tonight -- especially after Golden State went up 3-1 -- but here we are. Sports, yet again, have reminded all of us that as soon as we think we know what’s going to happen, everything changes.

DJ will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Hunter Felt with a comparison on the two teams:

It was never supposed to go to a Game 7. When the Golden State Warriors took a commanding 3-1 NBA finals lead by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4, it looked like the only remaining drama would be about which player on the Warriors would win MVP.

Then the Cavaliers took advantage of Draymond Green’s suspension and won Game 5 on the road. Then, on Thursday, they dominated the Warriors for all 48 minutes of Game 6 and tied up the series. Now we have a Game 7, where, as they say, anything is possible. While we can’t predict what will happen in one of the stranger finals in recent memory, we can see how these two teams stack up based on how they’ve played over the first six games of the series.

Click here for the full article:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Jamie Lee Curtis says The Bear is ending with season 5 but admits she may have "completely blown" an under-wraps announcement
The Bear season 5 is expected to air this year
Total Film
Total Film
Boba Fett star all but confirms his Star Wars bounty hunter won't show up in The Mandalorian and Grogu: "[I’m] shelved, that’s all, like a jar of peaches"
Don't expect Boba Fett to show up in The Mandalorian and Grogu
Total Film
Total Film
I Was Stoked For New ACOTAR News, But Sarah J. Maas’ Comments About The TV Series Have Been An Emotional Rollercoaster
ACOTAR fans are definitely feeling a lot right now.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Popular potato chip flavor recalled in six states over health risk
The chips contained an undeclared ingredient, posing the risk of an allergic reaction
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
The ‘Jim Carrey is a clone’ theory is absurd. Of course people believe it
Conspiracy claims have erupted over the star’s appearance. These days, I can’t blame people for endless skepticism
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Nearly a third of Pennsylvania gamblers are at risk of problem gambling − but few seek treatment
Nearly three times as many Pennsylvania adults gamble online today than just a few years ago.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play