Irving continues to run the Cavs offense with precision, hitting LeBron for the lefty lay-up down the stretch – 33 points for James, 9 assists for Kyrie, and Cleveland wins the series 4 games to 2 – making it back to the NBA Finals for the second straight season.
Advertisement
LeBron is incredible. If we can stop obsessing over championships and just look at his body of work, I think he will probably go down as the second greatest player of all-time. Kyle Lowry led the Raptors with 35 points and DeMar DeRozan added 20.
Six straight Finals appearances with the Heat and the Cavaliers is a remarkable accomplishment.
It’s the third finals appearance in team history for the Cavaliers.
And just as there are good and elite teams, there was LeBron James. The rest of Toronto’s starters only scored 11 points. James was probably more glad over lobbying for Ray Allen than anything else as Ray Allen saved Game 6 with his memorable three pointer.
“He (James) is a proven victor and he’s shown that throughout his career”, Lue said.
LeBron James believes the return to form and fitness of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love is responsible f …
“I said I was going to stick through this whole thing, and I want to be that guy who brings this organisation to where it is now”. And he wanted to mention that they must need two other stars to get fit to win the final. Cleveland’s chances of winning it all improved from +140 to +110, while the Thunder’s slipped from +160 to +210 after they dropped Game 5 to Golden State, and the defending champion Warriors are still at +300, according to Bovada.lv.
“It just didn’t feel the same hobbling into the locker room, knowing that we were going to the finals but I wasn’t at full strength and Kev was out”, Irving said, recalling the Cavs’ East-clinching victory previous year.
“He’s a proven victor”, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. Right, we remember those pictures. “But that gives us no sense of entitlement”.
Vanquished coach Dwane Casey praised James effusively.
The Cavs will face either the Warriors or Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, with the latter leading that series 3-2. “It means everything”, James revealed after the win.
With Carroll hurting and centre Jonas Valanciunas sidelined for a chunk of the post-season with an ankle injury, Toronto was outgunned by Cleveland.
Cleveland, which dropped Games 3 and 4 after blasting the Raptors by a combined 50 points in Games 1 and 2, pocketed Game 5 comfortably and jumped on the Raptors early in the clincher. He continues to do whatever his team needs as he steers them toward playoff success.
Advertisement
“They are a different team here”, Casey said. Many were already talking about the Cavaliers in the finals and some were even debating whether or not the Cavaliers would lose a game. Now the Cavaliers are looking at a must win Game Five at home, and the Raptors do not look like they will go down easily.
