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Cleveland Cavaliers: A Villanova-like Dream

By Kristopher Grimes

May 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates beating the Atlanta Hawks in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
May 26, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates beating the Atlanta Hawks in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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LeBron James
Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shakes hands with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the fourth quarter of game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Warriors won 105-97. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Game On

After a back and forth battle with the Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers are one game away from ending Cleveland’s 60-plus year championship drought. However, the Warriors are far from a pushover. Even against the Spurs in the playoffs, the two teams battled back and forth, winning one night and losing the next, but never two in a row.

So could the Cleveland Cavaliers do what no other team had done before them? The odds were not in their favor, but like Han Solo in Star Wars, don’t ever tell James the odds. Since returning to Cleveland in the summer of 2014, his goal has been to bring the city of Cleveland a title, and he was not going to let this thing go back to Oakland.

On the other side, Curry knows that the Warriors haven’t lost back-to-back games all season. Curry also knows that his team will come out and play hard, and that he’s planning on having a big game.

So enter Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers are up three games to two and has Golden State on the ropes. The city and the crowd are electric and in the depths of Quicken Loans Arena there are bottles of champagne on ice. The opportunity for a championship is real and the only thing left is to go out and play.

The Cavaliers won the tip-off. Then before Golden State can blink, LeBron made a cut, and with a quick pass from Irving blows by Iguodala to the hoop for a slam dunk. The arena erupts! The Cavaliers are only up 2-0, but you’d have thought that was the game winner.

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That excitement is short-lived as Curry goes down to the other end and puts up a quick three. The Warriors took away the early momentum. Each team went on a short rally, but for every rally, there is a counter rally. At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors lead the Cavaliers 28-26. James and Curry led their respective teams with 9 points apiece while Love and Thompson contributed six points of their own.

The second quarter finds the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron on the bench, and Irving leading the bench squad. That play by Lue ends up blowing up, as the Warriors go on a 10-0 rally to take a commanding 38-26 lead.

This forces the Cavaliers to bring LeBron back off the bench early, and Lue goes small pairing James with Dellavedova, Smith, Love, and Channing Frye. The small lineup works and the Cavaliers battled back and went on a 13-5 run right before halftime to trim the lead down to 54-50.

Cleveland came out of the locker room on fire. Led by Irving’s two deep triples and an ankle-breaking crossover on Thompson, the Cleveland Cavaliers stormed out of the locker room to take a 58-54 lead. The quick turn of the tides forced Kerr to take a 20-second timeout.

The crowd at the Q does not leave their feet. The arena is rocking, and Kerr brought out his best lineup. He’s going guard Shaun Livingston, Curry, Thompson, Iguodala and Green to counter Irving, Smith, James, Love, and Thompson.

The move works for Kerr and the Warriors. Putting Livingston’s length and athleticism on Irving forces Kyrie to give up the ball, and Iguodala’s defense on James puts out the Cleveland Cavaliers fire. The Warriors got things back under control, and by the end of the third, the score is tied with the score tied at 88. Game 6 is now coming down to the fourth quarter.

Next: The Longest Twelve Minutes

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