With the NBA Finals around the corner, LeBron James reminisced about his many battles with Stephen Curry. They faced off four times on the grandest stage. Curry claimed three, while James holds the greatest feat in 2016, making a return from a 3-1 deficit. However, to this day, one of those battles irks James. Internally, he might feel he and the Baby Face Assassin should have been even in their Finals rivalry.
The series in question is 2015, the year the Warriors’ dynasty began. Without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Akron Hammer and the Cavaliers still managed to win two straight games. They held the position of command, leading 2-1.
But the tactics that Steve Kerr deployed from Game 4 completely dismantled the Cavaliers. “Game 4, this is when Draymond started at the 5 and Iguodala started at the 4. And they changed the whole landscape of the game. You started, they played with more pace, more speed,” James said about their 2015 loss.
Without Love, the Warriors found a way to deal damage by using Green’s elite post defense combined with his ability to spread the floor. It opened up the series, and that change was decisive.“We didn’t have the ability to kind of change what we wanted to do, and they did. They had something in their back pocket that we didn’t know existed,” the four-time champion said on Mind the Game.
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Looking back at the series, LeBron James finds Game 4 to be the contest that shifted the momentum in the Warriors’ favor. They never lost a game after Kerr’s adjustment. Andrew Bogut, the Warriors’ starting center, didn’t play the last two games of the series.
On the other hand, the shorthanded Cavaliers couldn’t match the small-ball lineup that the Warriors deployed. Without Kevin Love, the Cavs didn’t have a stretch forward who could give Andre Iguodala any trouble defensively. Eventually, he had one of his best postseasons, winning Finals MVP that season.
But as much as the loss in 2015 stings, the Cavaliers got a chance to get back, and this time it was them who had some luck swing their way.
The Cavaliers’ 2016 vengeance story
The 2016 NBA Finals are arguably the most memorable moment in LeBron James’ career. They faced off against a record-breaking Warriors team that had a 3-1 advantage. It required maniacal belief to cross that hurdle. But lucky for them, the Warriors slipped in some places.
They went back to playing a bigger lineup. The health of Kevin Love may have forced the Bay to make such a change. However, it was also a successful tactic that paid off for the first four games. But in Game 5, Andrew Bogut picked up a knee injury and Draymond Green picked up a suspension.
But all LeBron James wanted was to win Game 5 at the Oracle. “I told the guys before we left, like, I was like, listen, you know, we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win game five. Like, I can feel it. We’re gonna win game five…. I promise you, if we get back to Cleveland for a game six, there will be a game seven. And I’ll take it from there,” he revealed on Mind the Game.
Manifesting such outlandish outcomes doesn’t always lead to success. But James’ will was too strong. And after Game 5, the entire Cavaliers team saw the pieces come together. So even though they were facing defeat for the next two games, they felt invincible. And the gap that Andrew Bogut left did wonders for the Cavaliers’ offense. So, although it started bitterly, LeBron James and the Cavaliers made history coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. It was unprecedented until then. Now, it’s become a chronicle of one of the great NBA stories.
