Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers in six to win first NBA title in 40 years LeBron James gave it all he had, and in the end, he just didn't have enough help. The Golden State Warriors are NBA champions for the first time in 40 years after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in in Game 6 to claim a 4-2 NBA Finals victory Tuesday at The Q. James put in game-highs of 32 points and 18 rebounds to go with eight assists in 46 minutes. He had to fight and claw for each statistic. He was 13-of-33 from the field. After scoring his 12th point, James became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 5,000 career postseason points. Andre Iguodala led the Warriors with 25 points. His insertion into the starting lineup in Game 4 changed the dynamic of the series. Stephen Curry registered 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Eight of his points came in the final quarter. For the vanquished Eastern Conference champs, it was an incredible postseason run considering the loss of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. The Q was electric and sheer pandemonium for two and a half quarters. But the noise subsided when it became clear that Warriors were not going to let up in the Cavaliers' final home game of the season. "If we want to play another day and live to fight for the championship, we need to win today," Cavs coach David Blatt said before the game. "So it's about survival right now, and that's what you're looking for." They didn't play like they were in survival mode early on. Golden State got out to a quick 15-point lead in the opening quarter. The Cavs went with their normal Finals lineup with Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov in the front line, only to see Iguodala take repeated open midrange jumpers off of the pick-and-roll game against the overmatched Mozgov. Iguodala was named series MVP. The Cavs offense was as poor as the defense early, with three 24-second violations in the first seven minutes of the game, seven turnovers in the quarter and 16 officially for the game. But as they've been all year, the Cavaliers were resilient and fought back to make it a two-point game at halftime. They picked up the intensity on the defensive end and held Golden State to 6-of-22 shooting in the second quarter and Curry was limited to two points. The Cavaliers trapped Curry on the pick-and-roll all night, forcing Draymond Green to be a scorer on the swing pass. That effort brought the Cavaliers within 45-43 at intermission. From there Cleveland went cold. They couldn't hit a shot, going 6-for-22 in the third which resulted in a Golden State 12-point lead heading into the final quarter. Mozgov produced 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while Tristan Thompson contributed 15 points, 12 boards and a block. J.R. Smith ended the night with 19 points off the bench. He nailed five threes, but all of them came in the fourth when the game was pretty much decided. The Cavaliers have ton of uncertainty going into the off-season, but their season shouldn't be overlooked. It just came up short.

• published: 04 Oct 2015
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