Cleveland Finally Wins a Title!

They did it!

At long last the championship drought in Cleveland is over.  Last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first ever NBA title and the first pro sports championship in Cleveland in over 50 years. Cleveland fans suffered years of heartache with infamous playoff failures like The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, and The Blown Save as well as franchise demoralizing events like The Move and The Decision. But now the misery is over. To recap, here are some amazing stats on the series and the clinching game:

• It was the first time in NBA history that a team that was down 3-1 came back to win the series.
• Series MVP LeBron James was the first player in NBA history to lead all players in a series in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. 
• Cleveland won back to back road games in Golden State, who had only lost twice at home in the regular season.
• Going into Game 7, the two teams had each scored 610 points, and the game was tied with a minute left. 
• Cleveland held the highest scoring team in the league to only 13 points in the 4th quarter and scoreless for the last 4:39 of the game.
• The Warriors broke the record for the most wins during the regular season, but lost three straight for the first time in two seasons to lose the title. 
• Steph Curry was the first ever unanimous NBA MVP during the regular season, but had the lowest scoring average and lowest FG% of any MVP in Finals history.  He had more turnovers than assists and only shot 26% on wide open shots. 

With Game 7 tied with two minutes left, three key plays by the Cavs' “Big 3” helped change Cleveland sports history forever.

The Block: After grabbing a defensive rebound, the Warriors were on a fast break to take the lead, but out of seemingly nowhere LeBron came from behind to block the layup and preserve the tie.  Watch it below in real time or read the step by step analysis:

The Shot: With the game still tied at 89 and a minute left, Kyrie Irving took Curry one on one and hit a 25 foot three pointer to give the Cavs a lead they would never relinquish. It was the biggest shot of his career and silenced the Golden State crowd.

The Defense: Immediately following Irving’s 3, the Warriors turned to the MVP to tie up the game. After setting several picks to get the matchup they wanted, Kevin Love was stuck covering Curry in an ISO position behind the 3 point line. Even though Love had been criticized for his defense, he held his ground for about 10 seconds, preventing Curry from getting the wide open shot he wanted to tie the game. Watch it below in real time or read another step by step analysis:

Cleveland's three biggest stars stepped up at the biggest time to seal the title for the Cavs.

Just last week I was in a debate about ranking your personal top five sports moments. After dozens of worst moments popped into my head, I struggled to come up with my top five moments. Now I have a clear #1 moment. This is such a pivotal event in my sport fanhood history that I have already bought tons of championship gear and will be headed back to Cleveland to celebrate in the long awaited victory parade.

Go Cavs! And Go Cleveland!

The Return of the King: Lebron James is coming back to Cleveland!

After ripping out Cleveland fans’ hearts four years ago in “The Decision,” Lebron James decided today to come back to the Cavaliers. Instead of a television ESPN show, Lebron wrote an essay with Sports Illustrated which seemed heartfelt.  “My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn't realize that four years ago. I do now.” Much better than taking your talents to South Beach.

Three months ago, Cleveland missed the playoffs while Lebron and the Heat were headed into the playoffs looking to defend their title. It appeared that there was zero percent Lebron would be returning to the Cavaliers. How did this change?

• 0% - At end of the regular season the Cavs finished a disappointing season at 33-49.
• 1% - Despite only a 1.7% chance, Cleveland won the draft lottery for the third time in four years. Not only could the Cavaliers draft another top draft pick, but they could trade it for a proven star to entice Lebron to return. 
• 5% - In the NBA Finals, the Heat got crushed in the last three games, which exposed Miami as an aging team whose championship window was closing. 
• 10% - Lebron and his Heat teammates opted out of their contracts, making him a free agent. While it was still believed it was just a salary cap move to bring in more players, Lebron was no longer employed by Miami. 
• 15% - The Cavs resigned their All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving, which showed that the franchise’s current building block was in place for the future.
• 25% - A week after opting out, Lebron’s agent only met with a handful of teams, including the Cavaliers. 
• 50% - This morning after all the meetings, moves, and rumors, it appeared there was a 50/50 chance Lebron would come to Cleveland. 

Leading up to his announcement, there were all sorts of crazy rumors and signs that Lebron was coming back to Cleveland.  Cavalier fans, bloggers, and reporters obsessed over any minute detail as if they were solving a crime.

• Bloggers tracked Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert’s plane as it went to Florida and back.
• There were pictures of moving trucks outside Lebron’s Miami home.
• Former Heat teammate Mike Miller posted a picture of himself working out with a Lebron Cleveland jersey in the background.
• There were random changes to Lebron’s website and twitter bio, and the site even crashed when it was rumored he would announce via his site.
• The Akron police department was given a heads up to be prepared, therefore huge crowds gathered by Lebron’s Akron home.

All this obsession shows how much Cleveland fans are passionate about their sports and how dearly they want a championship. It has been much discussed how Cleveland has not won a title in any sport since 1965, but they got a lot closer today. While I doubt the Cavaliers are going to go to four straight NBA Finals or win a title right away, having the best player in the world certainly helps.

On a personal note, I was crushed when Lebron left four years ago. I stopped watching the NBA Playoffs and I took down my pictures in front of the “Witness” billboard. However, I did not burn or throw away my Lebron jerseys or “Witness” shirt. While I am still pissed at “The Decision”, being closer to winning a championship is better than winning the draft lottery, so I welcome him back.

If that was not enough, the Cavaliers drafted UVa star Joe Harris in the second round two weeks ago as well. I was going to follow him and root for whatever team he was going to be on anyways. Now, the player I cheered for as he brought the Virginia Cavaliers an ACC title for the first time in 30 years will be hitting threes for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Oh, and don’t forget about Johnny Football.

Cleveland sports just got a lot more exciting.

Andrew Bynum to the Cavs is High Reward, Low Risk

Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers signed free agent center Andrew Bynum to a two-year incentive-laden deal for $24 million. It is a wise move for the team since it appears to be high reward for little risk.

The deal is full of incentives and low on guaranteed money because Bynum missed all of last season with a knee injury and has only played in 60% of the possible games in his career. The contract has a team option for the second year, meaning they can cut him without penalty after the first season if it does not pan out. This is not a spending spree type of move that hurts the salary cap, since the worst case scenario is only $6 million for one year. Meanwhile in comparison, free agents Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, and David West signed multi-year deals this year for at least $12 million a year.

It is a high reward move because two seasons ago the 25-year-old averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game.  The 7-footer was an All-Star and second team All-NBA selection that year.  If healthy, he plugs into a Cleveland front court that includes veteran Anderson Varejo, #1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, #4 pick two years ago Tristan Thompson, and All-Rookie selection Tyler Zeller. Meanwhile, the main core of the team is the young backcourt, led by All-Star 21-year-old point guard Kyrie Irving (above) and All-Rookie selection Dion Waiters. That is a talented eight man rotation with only Varejo being over 25 years old. Several blogs below have the Cavs making the playoffs and even the #5 seed now, if healthy. A big if.

This seems like a lot of optimism for a team that finished with the third worst record in the NBA last year.  However, in the past two months, Cleveland won the draft lottery, made a bold pick at #1, and picked up a former All-Star center on the cheap.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/22713400/how-signing-andrew-bynum-can-work-for-the-cavaliers

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1700246-best-case-worst-case-scenarios-for-andrew-bynum-era-in-cleveland

http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2013/07/10/andrew-bynum-makes-cleveland-cavaliers-an-instant-playoff-team/

Cleveland Cavaliers Win Draft Lottery

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a big step in the post Lebron James era as they won the NBA draft lottery tonight. Not only do they have the number one overall pick (from a trade with the Clippers), but they have the fourth overall as well. Maybe David Stern rigged the bouncing balls to correct the carnage left in Lebron’s absence, or maybe it’s just the Clippers doing what they do best.

While there is no clear cut top choice like in previous years (Wall, Griffin, Rose, etc), two solid draft selections can be a great foundation for the team’s future. It would have been interesting to draft another hometown hero, Jared Sullinger out of Ohio State, but he is returning to school, and I’d be wary of drafting an OSU big man #1 anyway. There will be a lot of speculation on who the Cavs should draft (Arizona’s Derrick Williams, Duke’s Kyrie Irving, European no names), but maybe they should trade down since they need a lot of help. They would be drafting for potential, not immediate need since they had the worst record in the conference, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Williams and say Kemba Walker in Cleveland uniforms next year.