That’s it from me – thanks so much for joing me in these finals. And congratulations to the Warriors. I’ll leave you with Daniel McGraw’s game report. Good night!
Andre Iguodala was named NBA Finals MVP, not LeBron.
Guess how the remaining Cleveland fans reacted?
If you guessed that they booed, you are a winner! Just like the Warriors!
The Warriors could easily be back next year. But it’s hard to get out of the West.
The Cavaliers are, barring an injury to LeBron James, a lock to be back. The guy just took a collection of rejects to a close, 4-2 loss in the Finals to the NBA team with the best record.
But now I’m the guy talking about next year when this year just ended. Don’t be that guy. He’s annoying.
Congratulations to the Warriors.
FINAL SCORE: Warriors 105, Cavaliers 97.
Congratulations to the Warriors. Congratulations to Oakland.
Celebrate responsibly.
Cleveland: sorrow responsibly.
Updated
That should do it. Warriors 104-97 with 10.6 left.
#Warriors game 6 #NBAFinals Oakland PD reminds everyone to celebrate responsibly!!! #RespectOakland #StrengthInNumbers
— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) June 16, 2015
HAAAAAAAAAAAhahahahahahaha. J.R. Smith just put up a prayer 3 ... and made it. 101-97 with 29.1 left.
J.R. Smith: never not entertaining.
Updated
Now it’s 100-94 with 37.2 left. Steph Curry to the line.
This is one scraptastic batch of Cavaliers.
The public address guy is desperately trying to get the crowd to make noise. They’re not obliging. It’s pretty depressing.
100-92, 55 seconds left. Warriors call timeout.
Respectable final score alert! Respectable final score alert!
98-89. Only 1:01 to go and Cleveland will be out of its misery. Until the next Indians game and then when Browns season starts and then next Cavaliers season and then the Indians again and then ...
Warriors 98, Cavaliers 85. 1:50 left.
LeBron and friends just stood there and watched Curry go in for an uncontested layup. So the game is officially over now. All that’s left is further Cleveland humiliation.
Oh ... and I was wrong. Steph Curry’s mom is in attendance. I hope by false report earlier didn’t destroy worldwide TV ratings.
Updated
Down 11 with 3:40 left, J.R. Smith decide to try to post up Steph Curry, but he stumbled and traveled.
This has been your J.R. Smith is a Basketball Disaster update.
Klay Thompson just fouled out. This would potentially be important if the game was closer than 13 points with only a few minutes left. Hey, we should pretend it IS important just to convince ourselves there’s still a chance this game gets close.
Oh, yeah ... I should probably update you on the score: 94-79, 4:37 left.
It’s that quiet, foregone conclusion point of the game where the in-arena announcer is the loudest noise.
Updated
At this point if I were David Blatt I would just say "screw it" and try something insane like run the offense through Perk. @DJGalloEtc
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) June 17, 2015
Perkins, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller. Is it really much worse than what Cleveland normally runs out there with LeBron? Really? Think about your answer. Really?
Kelly Olynyk should probably avoid the ol’ Twitter mentions tonight.
This stat is both amazing and cruel:
3-for-3 tonight, Curry & Iguodala are a combined 20-for-34 on 4th quarter 3-pointers in the series.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) June 17, 2015
Klay Thompson finally contributed by hitting a wide open 3. The lead is now 14.
We are 6+ minutes away from the City of Oakland winning a sports title. The last time that happened, the Oakland A’s in 1989, there was not a liveblog of the festivities.
Warriors 86, Cavaliers 75. 7:15 left.
Another 3 by Steph Curry.
Steph’s mom and daughter are not in the crowd. That can’t help the TV ratings.
My god ... the NBA MVP, Steph Curry, hit a 3 to give the Warriors a 10-point lead, so J.R. Smith -- not the MVP -- decided he’d counter with an out-of-control drive that failed miserably.
NBA promoting Summer League courtside. Cavs say "not so fast." pic.twitter.com/m8R9bGAyoy
— RealGM (@RealGM) June 17, 2015
Warriors 75, Cavaliers 68. 10:13 left.
Mozgov hits two FTs and then LeBron gets a steal and a dunk. They’re within 7 points. This game shall continue to be acceptable entertainment for the remainder of the evening.
Warriors 75, Cavaliers 62. 11:00 minutes left.
Cleveland has now missed 11 free throws. If they made all of their free throws, they’d be ... losing still.
A team needing to make a huge comeback to stay alive in the NBA Finals has started J.R. Smith in the 4th quarter.
Just wanted to note this amazing moment in basketball history.
@DJGalloEtc thanks for the updates on finals, i'm @ work n your all i got
— mar wray (@markcwray) June 17, 2015
I’m happy to do any and everything I can. I’m like Shawn Marion that way. We’re also both making an equal impact on the Finals.
So. It's been a good NBA season, everyone. @DJGalloEtc
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) June 17, 2015
The Cavaliers are going to play out the final 12 minutes for the liveblog. They’re professionals.
End of the 3rd: Warriors 73, Cavaliers 61.
Mozgov has 11 and 10 and 4 blocks.
Tristan Thompson has 13 and 12.
I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m about to be that guy: LeBron James isn’t doing enough for the Cavaliers to win.
Warriors 73, Cavaliers 58. Less than a minute left in the 3rd.
From earlier in the liveblog, you’ll recall the Warriors haven’t lost all season when leading by 15. You can shut the game off, if you’d like ... BUT DON’T CLOSE YOUR BROWSER!
The clips that the broadcast shares of coaches in the huddle doesn’t do the coaches any favors. They can’t air strategy stuff, so they just show motivational cliches. It makes the average viewer think NBA coaches are guys paid millions of dollars to yell lines from cat posters.
Warriors 69, Cavaliers 55. 3:05 left in the 3rd.
Ezeli stuffs back a Curry missed three, gets fouled and hits the free throw. All of Cleveland’s hard work coming back in the 2nd quarter has been erased. But effort is its own reward, right?
Updated
Remember that Cleveland’s best shot to win -- outside of LeBron scoring 100 -- is to play great defense.
Confused by where Cavs D is going, Iguodala uncontested drive & slam https://t.co/gWyf4kwRLQ
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) June 17, 2015
Great drive by Shaun Livingston gives Golden State a 63-53 lead with 4:30 left.
I still wince every time Livingston jumps and cuts on the court, terrified his leg will snap off again.
Warriors 61, Cavaliers 51. 5:11 left in the 3rd.
Warriors are on a 16-4 run, forcing Cleveland to call timeout. Iguodala now has 17 points and is 7-for-14 from the floor. I wonder what kind of defense Iguodala could play on a player the caliber of Iguodala.
J.R. Smith was VERY INSPIRED by Blatt's halftime speech! pic.twitter.com/j2XO31k12w
— SportsPickle (@sportspickle) June 17, 2015
Klay Thompson has 4 fouls with 6:15 left in the third.
He also has two points. Soooooooo is it bad for Golden State if he fouls out?
Warriors 56, Cavaliers 51. 6:50 left in the 3rd.
LeBron has taken it to the hoop on back-to-back possessions. Is it finally starting?
LeBron looked tired as hell on that closeout. Basically said, I cant closeout to both, so Imma stand in the middle & hope yall miss.They did
— Amin Elhassan (@AminESPN) June 17, 2015
I need a nap, I need a nap, tell the world that I need a nap ...
Warriors 53, Cavaliers 47. 8:13 left in the 3rd.
Golden State is on a 7-0 run after falling behind. Klay Thompson still has 2 points. LeBron is still apparently conserving energy.
Updated
Cleveland 47, Warriors 45. 10:11 left in the half.
Cleveland’s early buckets are by Mozgov and Thompson. At least one Thompson is bothering to play this game.
ABC’s halftime crew felt LeBron was conserving energy in the first half.
It could be that, it could be that he’s tired from being the whole team all playoffs.
At the half, Klay Thompson has 2 points.
Klay Thompson and LeBron James are the two best all-around players we have in the NBA today!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 24, 2015
Not a bad end to the half.
Cavs had 13 turnovers in the 1st half. BAD!
Cavs out-rebounded Golden State, 29-16. GOOD!
Cavs shot 17 more FTs in the 1st half than the Warriors. GOOD!
Cavs shot only 13-for-21 from the line. BAD!
My prediction for the 2nd half: I have no idea.
Updated
Halftime: Warriors 45, Cavaliers 43.
After trailing by 13 at the end of the 1st quarter, the Cavs made a late run in the 2nd quarter to get within two. Tristan Thompson followed up a LeBron miss before the buzzer with a huge put-back dunk.
Thompson has 11 and 7 at the half. LeBron has 15 and 8. So LeBron remains the best player in the world. FOR NOW.
Updated
Warriors 43, Cavaliers 35. 2:10 left in the half.
LeBron and Curry just made turnovers. This is an ugly game. If this was the first game you watched all season, you wouldn’t be impressed. But it would be weird if this was the first game you watched all season. It would be even weirder if you were watching your first game and following this liveblog.
Updated
LeBron just got his first free throws of the night ... and missed them both. He’s making this hard on himself. As though playing in Cleveland isn’t making it hard enough already.
40-33. 3:23 left in the half.
Love child of George Hamilton and Kim Jong Il RT @CBSSports: We've located the best fan in the arena. pic.twitter.com/7Ikp17NBPz
— Scoops Maroun (@ejmaroun) June 17, 2015
He’s looking for a new basketball best friend to replace Dennis Rodman.
Warriors 39, Cavaliers 33. 3:37 left in the half.
It’s a media timeout. Probably so the media can begin writing their LeBron-is-no-Jordan pieces. It’s an original idea.
Shumpert just picked up another foul trying to chase Steph Curry around a screen. When Shumpert comes in from his deck, he probably just goes right through the screen door, Kool-Aid Man style.
Warriors 39, Cavaliers 31. 4:15 left in the half.
LeBron just threw it into Mozgov again. It didn’t end well.
This game will end in the same way if he keeps doing this.
@DJGalloEtc I'm also looking forward to the Australian media jumping off the Dellavedova bandwagon as quick than they jumped on it.
— Victory in Melbourne (@victoryinmelb) June 17, 2015
ANDREW BOGUT IS YOUR HERO NOW.
Oh, right. He doesn’t play anymore. Hmmm.
Instead of shooting quality looks on the last two possessions, LeBron forced the ball to Timofey Mozgov. Timofey Mozgov. LeBron is in an elimination game and he’s looking to get the ball to Timofey Mozgov.
If this is LeBron’s idea, he needs to be fired as head coach.
Warriors 34, Cavaliers 29. 5:50 left in the half.
Shots were made on back-to-back possessions. It’s back to professional basketball! Alright!
This quarter, Golden State is 1-for-10 and Cleveland is 3-for-10. We’re currently watching the 1st Round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Hey, remember back when Matthew Dellavedova was a thing?
He has 0 points and a turnover tonight in 9 minutes.
Time for one of those “Where Are They Now?” features.
Warriors 32, Cavaliers 26. 7:20 left in the half.
Cleveland gets it to 6 points on a tough double and triple-pumping layup by James.
Never pass the ball again, LeBron. If the ball leaves your hands for the rest of the night, it should be heading towards the rim.
Updated
Mozgov just sent an Iguodala finger roll attempt flying volleyball spike-style ... and then seconds later fouled Iguodala. Cleveland had about 4 seconds of joy there.
Pitbull is currently playing in the arena. So don’t feel bad if Cleveland loses. They deserve it.
TV timeout with the Warriors up 31-24 with 9:22 left in the half.
Timofey Mozgov is getting abused on both sides of the court. Putin will not stand for this.
When f'ing Barbosa is routinely quieting your home crowd, you're not gonna win a series. @DJGalloEtc
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) June 17, 2015
This is a basketball truth as true as LeBron being the best player in the world.
Warriors 31, Cavaliers 21. 10:43 left in the half.
Cleveland got the lead down to 8 on a LeBron corner 3 with the shot clock expiring, but Leandro Barbosa answered right back with a 3. We almost had a game there. Knock it off, Barbosa!
The Warriors are 57-0 when they have a 15-point lead and 82-0 in games where they score more points than the opponent
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) June 17, 2015
Golden State currently has a 13-point lead. And I’m going to guess their record in games in which they have a 13-point lead is also fairly solid.
End of the 1st quarter: Warriors 28, Cavaliers 15.
Curry bricked a 3 on one of Golden State’s final possessions, but it bounced right to Ezeli, who layed it in for an easy bucket. This it not looking like Cleveland’s night. Like most sports nights.
Updated
Out of the timeout with Golden State up 23-15, Mozgov is on the bench. Cleveland is going smaller. Unfortunately for them, though, they’re small, medium and large lineups are all inferior to Golden State’s. Size doesn’t matter in this case, Cleveland.
Updated
Tristan Thompson is leading the Cavaliers with 6 points and is a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
Who is going to tell LeBron that not only is he not the best player in the world, he’s not the best forward on the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Updated
The Warriors are hitting everything now and are up 23-15 with 1:42 left. If LeBron is going to do a 100-point game, he might want to get going.
Warriors 15, Cavaliers 11. 3:37 left in the 1st.
J.R. Smith hits 1-of-2 from the line. He’s really feeling it!
Curry just hit his first 3, and the Warriors have their first lead, 11-8, and are on a 9-1 run.
Cleveland-area sad trombone players may get a lot of work tonight.
No offense to the Cleveland skyline but is it iconic enough to be on the floor?
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) June 17, 2015
In a way, a floor perfectly captures Cleveland’s boring “skyline.”
Remember that Cavaliers Vine I shared below that showed Shumpert missing a 3? He missed another one from the same spot. Only this time it was in the game. 8-8 tie, 5:33 left in the 1st quarter.
Cavaliers 7, Warriors 4. 8:05 left in the first.
Iguodala just took a charge as LeBron tried to plow through the lane. Iguodala is an insane person to step in front of James. Brave. But insane.
LeBron gets his first 2 points on a layup off of a Warriors turnover. 5-2 Cleveland with 9:30 left in the 1st quarter. Steph Curry is 0-for-1 in case you want to get in early on some Steph-Curry-is-bad-again action.
Cavs up 3-0 on a Mozgov layup, 10:35 left. Who are these non-LeBron Cavaliers who are scoring?
Tip-off!
Cavs score first at 11:31 of the 1st quarter on a made free throw by Iman Shumpert. It’s 1-0. Okay ... let’s go to Game 7! We’re good here.
The Cavs just sent this out. One of the 3s in a 6-second clip was missed.
Treys on fleek for GAME 6. #ALLinCLE https://t.co/mvRoDM40D2
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 17, 2015
Oh, Cleveland.
The basketball gods took away so much from us this year with so many injuries. Get us a Game 7 and we'll call it even.
— Scoops Maroun (@ejmaroun) June 17, 2015
If we get a Game 7, it will be because LeBron is Basketball God.
Jerry West in 1969 was the last player to win Finals MVP on a losing team. I wonder if LeBron could one inspire a modern NBA logo as West did the current one.
If not the NBA logo, a silhouette of just LeBron could also serve as the logo of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, it would be perfect.
Wow. I guess no one will criticize LeBron James ever again.
MILESTONE WATCH: @KingJames is 12 pts shy of becoming the 6th player in NBA playoff history to score 5,000 career pts pic.twitter.com/g0gawS8Qky
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 17, 2015
If the Warriors win, they have a shot at becoming a dynasty because of their youth.
For @TheCauldron, Dubs would be the youngest champion in two decades, by nearly a full year https://t.co/27TrfX19CX pic.twitter.com/D8QBypm9zv
— Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh) June 16, 2015
On the other hand, the previous young teams -- the 2009 Lakers, the 2004 Pistons and the 2008 Celtics -- didn’t become dynasties. In fact, the only thing they’re trying to win year to year now is the draft lottery.
Cleveland fans are obviously desperate for a win tonight. But if it doesn’t happen, at least Cleveland will get to see a championship! That’s pretty exciting, right? Guys?
Cavs head coach David Blatt was asked if Cleveland needs to be leading entering the 4th quarter to win. Here’ what he replied:
“I’ve been watching the horse races lately. It seems like the guy who was in front has been winning.”
There you go. Let’s never again question whether David Blatt is a basketball genius. Or if the media sometimes doesn’t ask great questions.
Updated
J.R. Smith rolled into the arena again for Game 6.
Smith can’t afford to walk. He needs to conserve his energy to miss a lot of shots tonight.
The big controversy after Game 5 was the best player in the world saying that he’s the best player in the world:
We’ll see if there’s similar controversy after tonight’s game if the Warriors win the championship and then they say they won the championship.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. After 5 1/2 months of regular season basketball and 2 months of the postseason, the 2014-2015 NBA season could come to an end this very night.
Of course, the big story is: CAN LEBRON WIN THE MVP ON A LOSING TEAM?!?
(Also, could the Golden State Warriors win a championship?)
Updated
DJ will be here shortly. In the meantime, here are some thoughts on tonight’s game from Les Carpenter:
The Cleveland Cavaliers are tired now. The relentless zeal that pushed them to two early victories in the NBA finals has drained away. The series has grown long and the injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have proven all but fatal to the title dreams that burned just a week ago. LeBron James and a whole lot of enthusiasm are no match for the speed and depth of Golden State.
Even with the series in Cleveland for Game 6 on Tuesday night, it feels like a last gasp for the Cavs. The way the Warriors raced past them in those final few minutes in Game 5 makes the result of this series seem a certainty.
And yet because this is the finals and Cleveland have James, there remains that shred of doubt. If James is going to have that career-defining moment of pure greatness he never had to have in his title with the Miami Heat, tonight would be the time to do it.
“One thing I’ve learned playing with LeBron for three years, you never count the man out,” his former team-mate Shane Battier said on a Monday conference call for the American Century Championship golf tournament. “If he scores 50 points, the Cavs will win. If he doesn’t I have the Golden State Warriors ending the series at six.”
