NBA Champs

On Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, becoming champions for the first time in 40 years. This championship marks the 4th for the Oakland based Warriors, who last won a championship 40 years ago in 1975. The team was also champions in 1947 and 1956.

Basketball fans couldn’t have asked for a better matchup or a better series. These games were gritty, hard-fought and matched up two of the NBA’s most talented players. Lebron James, a former MVP led the Cavs to the finals against current MVP, Stephen Curry with the Warriors.

Golden State won the first game at home in Oracle Arena, beating the Cavs 108-100 in OT. The Warriors dropped the next two games, one at home and one on the road but then came back to win the next three, closing the series in Game 6 with a 105-97 victory in Cleveland.

While the Warriors were the better team, the Cavs managed to fight well until the end of the series. Kevin Love was injured in a prior round and Kyrie Irving hurt his knee in Game 1 of the finals, ruling him out from further play. Lebron had help from Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova, but it wasn’t enough, even with the King’s impressive individual performance. Lebron averaged 35.8 PPG in the finals and led both teams in a number of stats.

Warriors star and point guard Stephen Curry is one of the NBA’s best shooters and he rarely missed a 3-point shot in Game 6. Curry was selected seventh in the 2009 NBA draft by Golden State after playing three years at Davidson College. Fans got to see Curry not only as a team leader but as a family man this season, as his wife Ayesha and daughter Riley were both constantly at his side. Riley won over fans with her cuteness and commentary in the post-game conferences.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also has a lot to be proud of. Kerr played in the NBA for 15 years, most notably with the Chicago Bulls during their mid-90s dominance. In 2014, Kerr was named head coach of Golden State. He began the season with a 19-2 record and implemented parts of the famous triangle offense Phil Jackson used with the Bulls in the 90s.

This was also David Blatt’s first year as a head coach in the NBA, making this the first time in which rookie head coaches faced off in the Finals.