LeBron James powers Cleveland Cavaliers’ thrilling win over Golden State Warriors for first NBA title

Oakland, California: LeBron James and the Cavaliers pulled off an improbable NBA Finals comeback, giving Cleveland a title again at long last.

James delivered on a promise from two years ago to bring a championship to his native northeast Ohio and he and the Cavs became the first team to rally from a 3-1 finals deficit by beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89 on Sunday night to end a 52-year major sports championship drought in Cleveland.

James almost single-handedly carried the Cavs back into this series and finished with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as the Cavs captured their first championship in franchise history and gave their city its first major sports winner since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964.

An emotional James fell to the floor when this one ended with a second win in six days on Golden State’s imposing home floor, surrounded by his teammates. Only seconds earlier, he went down in pain with 10.6 seconds left after being fouled by Draymond Green while going for a dunk, then came back out to make the second of two free throws.

Kyrie Irving scored 26 points to cap his brilliant finals, including a 3-pointer over Stephen Curry with 53 seconds left.

Curry sat briefly on the bench to take in the scene after the Warriors made their last basket with 4:39 left.

Green had 32 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, but the Warriors’ record-setting season ended without the only prize this close-knit “Strength In Numbers” crew cared about from way back in the beginning — through the record 24-0 start as Coach of the Year Steve Kerr was out, Curry’s second consecutive MVP campaign, and the 73 regular-season wins to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ mark.

They might always be remembered as one of the best teams ever that couldn’t close it out.

King James, the MVP

By unanimous vote, James was selected as MVP of the title series, accepting his trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after Cleveland beat Golden State 93-89 in Game 7 on Sunday night.

“This is what I came back for,” James said.

James was overcome by emotion after the final horn. He’s the finals MVP for the third time, also winning in 2012 and 2013 when he was a member of the Miami Heat.

“Best player on the planet,” Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving said.

James became the third player to have a triple-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, joining Jerry West in 1969 and James Worthy in 1988. He had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the clincher, capping a series where the Cavaliers became the first team to successfully overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.

“You see his basketball talent, the way he can control a game,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But the reason why he deserves this is because he has a great heart … and great things happen to great people.”

James is now 4-2 all-time in Game 7s, including 2-0 when those ultimate games come in the NBA Finals.

Cleveland Celebrates 

As the final seconds of Cleveland’s 93-89 victory at Golden State in Game 7 ticked off on the giant scoreboard inside Quicken Loans Arena, 18,000 fans, some of them strangers when Sunday night began, cried, hugged, screamed and shared a moment many of them have spent a lifetime dreaming of.

They then linked arms and shouted the words to Queen’s “We Are The Champions,” a song that only seemed reserved for others.

For the first time since 1964, when the Browns ruled the NFL, Cleveland is a title town again.

With James leading the way and winning MVP honors, the Cavs became the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

At 10:37 pm, Cleveland finally exorcised decades of sports demons — the painful losses given nicknames like “The Drive” and “The Fumble” and “The Shot” — and became a title town for the first time since 27 December, 1964, when the Browns won the NFL championship. There had been so many close calls in between, so much heartache, so much torture.

Like the Warriors, those days are history.

“I never ever thought I would see this would happen,” said Tim Lovell from Canfield, Ohio, who sat on the 50-yard line when Denver quarterback John Elway broke Cleveland’s heart with “The Drive” in the 1986 AFC Championship game. “I tell you what with about two minutes to go I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I’ve seen “The Drive” and I’ve seen “The Fumble” and I’ve seen Michael Jordan kill us with “The Shot.”

As Lovell spoke, his 18-year-old daughter Marisa, wiped tears from her eyes.

“This is history,” she said. “I cried real tears. It was overwhelming and breathtaking to be here.”

Following the game, fans poured out of “The Q” onto Huron Road for a party that could last for days.

And soon, Cleveland will host a parade, one that’s been planned for a lifetime.

“I can’t wait to get back home,” James said.

With inputs from agencies