To this day, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team in the history of the NBA to rally all the way back from a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA Finals series.
Early on in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cavaliers looked primed to come up just short of a title once again after the team lost in the 2015 championship series. After all, every one of Cleveland’s three losses in the first four games of the NBA Finals came by double digits.
But behind 82 combined points from LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, Cleveland won Game 5 on the road and forced a Game 6. With the Cavaliers’ backs still against the wall, James reportedly told his teammates that the Warriors wouldn’t want to win it all in Cleveland in Game 6 in hopes that he would help inspire his team to a win.
Iman Shumpert shares what LeBron James told the Cavs when they were down 3-1 to the Warriors.
Watch our new episode ft. Iman Shumpert out now: https://t.co/g3enly76EF pic.twitter.com/s9yLCYM53n
— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) November 18, 2024
“Bron basically was like, ‘We gon’ go here — we gon’ win at home,'” Iman Shumpert said. “After we win at home, that’s gon’ put pressure on them. But they kind of don’t even wanna win it. They gon’ wanna win their last one. Either they get this one at home, or we’re gonna automatically get six just ’cause nobody wants to come back to Cleveland and do it. We’re gonna win this game. I’m gonna guarantee y’all we’re gonna win this game. I don’t care what we gotta do. We’re winning.'”
The Cavaliers not only won Game 5 of the best-of-seven series as James predicted, but they won in decisive fashion. Cleveland earned a 15-point victory over Stephen Curry.
But the Cavaliers didn’t receive much scoring production from anyone outside of James and Irving in their Game 5 win. The only player outside of the two to reach double digits in points was J.R. Smith, and he totaled 10.
However, Cleveland’s supporting cast picked up the slack from a scoring standpoint in Game 6, which the Cavaliers won at home by 14 points. Four out of the five members of the team’s starting five scored 14-plus points, and James led the way with 41 while shooting 16-of-27 from the field.
Cleveland then rode its momentum from its Game 6 victory into the deciding Game 7. The Cavaliers won what is widely perceived to be one of the greatest games in NBA Finals history by just four points to capture their first championship in franchise history.
The contest went down to the wire, and with the score knotted up at 89 points apiece, Irving hit the biggest shot of his life to give Cleveland a three-point lead with under one minute to play in the game.
The Cavaliers’ NBA Finals series victory stands out as one of the greatest playoff comebacks in the history of the league, and if it weren’t for James’ motivating words, perhaps the comeback wouldn’t have come to fruition.
