2016 NBA Final. A Comeback for the Ages

With no/not much sport around to watch, I've taken to watching old sporting events to help keep my sanity during the pandemic. One of the events I decided to watch was the 2016 NBA finals between The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. This being one of the best comebacks in the history of the sport (And just sport in general).

We will skim over the first 4 games. The first 3 were won in a blow out fashion, Warriors winning 2 and the Cavs taking the 3rd. The biggest takeaway from these first 3 games for me was how annoying Draymond Green was. Not only does he not stop talking, but he also screams 'And 1' every time he's touched. He is also an incredibly gifted defender, constantly putting up exquisite shot defence and disrupting play which means I have to at least respect him, which I'm not happy about. The first 3 games also highlighted how deep the Warriors squad was, considering neither Klay Thompson or Steph Curry had over 20 points. Game 4 was a bit more of a tighter affair. The Cavs managed to squander several leads before the game turned in favour of the Warriors. This was due to; yes you guessed it, Anderson Varejao, the crazy-haired Brazilian. Coming off the bench, he managed to grab a couple of important offensive rebounds, outplaying All-star Kevin Love, and turning the tied of the game. That made it 3-1 Warriors going back home to a raucous Oracle Arena back in Oakland, California, with a lead that nobody in the history of the league had managed to overturn. If you don't know what happens next, you have either been in a coma for the past 4 years or just really are not interested in basketball.

Game 5

The big news before game 5 was Draymond Greens suspension. Green was the cornerstone of their defence and the heart of their team. It would be hard to argue this wouldn't have a big impact on the result of this game. But it was only a one-game suspension, with a 3-1 lead it should have too much of an effect on the overall result surely? Klay Thompson and Lebron James dominated the first half of the game. Klay Thompson hitting 3 pointers for fun and James, well he just doing Lebron James things. More bad news for the Warriors though, as Andrew Bogut, MVP of the Australian Basketball League (NBL) was injured, leaving them another player short. I was sure this wouldn't matter though as they have my personal MVP for the series, Anderson Varejao on the bench. 

Cleveland led most of the second half; leading Warriors to even employ the tactic of Haka Thompson. Going off-topic, I can't believe the NBA didn't put something in place to stop this kind of tactic sooner, Jesus does it ruin the rhythm of the game. Anyway, the tactic slightly worked due to Tristain Thompson missing free throws at the same rate I have been drinking alcohol since the pandemic started. It didn't matter too much though; Cleveland was able to pull away in the 4th. This was mainly due to Kyrie Irving taking over the game and hitting shot after shot. Kyrie and Lebron both went over 40 points in the game, the first time in NBA history that two teammates went over 40 in one game. The game was all but over with a few minutes remaining, with both teams emptying their benches. It looks like we are heading for a Game 6 back in Cleveland.

Game 6

Draymond Green is back, and Cleveland is rolling! The Cavs dominated the first quarter. Steph Curry found himself in foul trouble, which will go on to bite himself in the ass later in the game. The Warriors managed only 11 points in the first quarter, their worst total all season, and what a time to do it. Kevin Love also found himself in foul trouble, which brings me to the subject of refereeing within this series. I won't go into too much depth about this, as could end up writing about it forever, but to say it was inconsistent over the 6 games so far would be very polite of me. 

Lebron James and Kyrie Irving again dominated much of the first half. Tristan Thompson's impact in the first half can't be overlooked, grabbing 9 boards in just the first quarter alone. Steph Curry did manage to knock down a few shots in the first half, but couldn't do anything about the Warriors being down at the half. The Cavs lead ballooned to 24 at one point, only for Klay Thompson to start knocking down some shots after missing his first 6 3's. But the lead was too much and Lebron James led the Cavs to 2 straight wins and another performance with over 40 points. There was nothing they could do to stop him. You could tell that the 3-1 lead slipping got to the Warriors players. Steph Curry fouled out and then proceeded to throw his mouth guard, a temper tantrum reminiscent of a 5-year-old, hitting a fan in the process. He had already fouled out the game at this point but was also acrimoniously ejected from the game on just one technical, a certainly rare feat. Shortly after this, Draymond Green got into a heated debate after fouling Lebron James, almost ending up with a technical of his own. The series now tied at 3-3, there is no way the Cavs can pull of the full comeback, surely not?!

Between games 6 and 7, Steph Curry and Steve Kerr were both fined $25,000 for remarks said about the referees. It seemed the tantrum Steph Curry had during the game boiled over and was lucky to even be playing in game 7.

Game 7

Game 7 was played back in Oakland, the crowd at full volume before the game started. Andrew Bogut was out injured, so Festus Ezili got the start, his first of the playoffs and what a time to get it. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out like his boyhood dreams of dominating the paint and putting up 30. Instead of putting players on a poster and blocking shots, his shots were getting blocked and he was giving cheap fouls away at the other end.

This game was a tight affair early on, Harrison Barnes finally looked like he was about to make an impact, having been MIA the last 6 games. Draymond Green had another big half and Steph Curry, not for the first time found himself in foul trouble. It looked like for the second year in a row, The MVP wasn’t going to have enough of an impact when it mattered most.

One of the takeaways from this play of series, much like many other years in the playoffs, was how good Lebron was on defence.  If he played this hard on defence all year, he would easily be DPOY. He averaged 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks a game, many coming in the way of help defence.  This increase in effort was again on show in game 7. My MVP Anderson Verajao managed to find himself on the court again in game 7. He managed to break the record for flops in the finals on just 7 minutes per game. 

Going into the second half the Warriors put Andre Iguodala on Lebron James and was able to do a tremendous job of slowing him down. The game became tied at 89 in the forth and stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity. It didn’t look like either team wanted to win. Even Steph Curry, who through 3 quarters had looked a semblance of his MVP self, threw up an airball in an attempt to break a tie. Then it happened. “Block by James” the famous call by play-by-play commentator Mike Breen as Lebron sprinted the length of the floor to block Iguodala and keep the game tied (still at 89), a moment that will go down in history, and be repeated in YouTube highlight videos for years. Not long after that Kyrie Irving when up the other end, put Steph Curry in a mixer and nailed a 3 pointer to all but ice the game. The Warriors had a couple of chances to get the game back but were denied, mainly due to Kevin Love turning into the best defender on the planet, putting Steph Curry in his pocket and denying him a clear shot at tying the game.  Before the game ended, Lebron James attempted to dunk Draymond Green back into the 90s but was fouled during the play and missed, a terrible moment if, like me, you wanted to see Draymond Green embarrassed further.

That was it, the buzzer went and the Cavs had done the impossible, coming back from 3-1 down and becoming the 2016 NBA champions. Lebron James unsparingly was named MVP falling to the ground in tears of happiness knowing he had brought a championship back to Cleveland, Ohio.

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