Who Won the 2015 NBA Finals?

The 2015 NBA Finals were one of the most exciting playoffs in recent memory. After an action-packed series, the Golden State Warriors emerged victorious.

Who won the 2015 NBA Finals? The Golden State Warriors, led by Finals MVP Andre Iguodala.

The Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA Finals by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. The Warriors won the Finals for the first time since 1975, and the first time since moving to Golden State from San Francisco in 1962. It was the first time the Finals had been decided in a Game 6 since 2013.

Their regular season record

The Golden State Warriors had a spectacular regular season, winning 67 games. That was good enough to earn them the top seed in the Western Conference. They then proceeded to win their first NBA Finals since 1975, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.

Their post-season record

The Warriors entered the 2014 NBA playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. They faced the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, winning the series 4–3. They then upset the heavily favored Denver Nuggets in Round 2, winning that series 4–2. The Warriors reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1976, where they faced Memphis. The Warriors won that series 4–2, and became the first team in NBA history to advance to the Finals after starting a playoff series on the road 0–2.[50] With their win over Memphis, they also became just the 10th team in NBA history to make it to The Finals after trailing 2–0 in a best-of-seven playoff format.[51]

In The Finals, Golden State faced off against defending champions and Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. After dropping Game 1 at home despite a furious fourth quarter rally, and then losing Game 2 despite leading for most of it, many observers wrote off Golden State’s chances of winning the series. However, behind a inspired effort from Andre Iguodala off the bench, Golden State won Games 3 and 4 in Cleveland to even up the series at 2 games apiece. The Warriors then took Game 5 at home to take a 3–2 lead back to Cleveland. In Game 6, Stephen Curry scored 17 points in overtime as Golden State finished off the Cavaliers 105–97 to win their fourth championship in franchise history, and first since 1975. Iguodala was named MVP of The Finals, becoming just third player ever (joining former Warrior Micheal Jordan and James Worthy) to win an NBA Finals MVP while coming off of the bench.[52][53]

With their championship victory, Golden State became just one of 10 teams in NBA history to come back from being down 2–0 in The Finals.[54] They are also only one of four teams (joining 1997 Chicago Bulls , 2003 San Antonio Spurs , and 2006 Miami Heat[55]) to ever win a Finals game on somebody else’s court after trailing 0–2 in a best-of-seven scenario; two of those teams won championships (1997 Chicago Bulls[56]and 2003 San Antonio Spurs), with Miami losing that year’s championship series 4–2 against Dallas Mavericks .[57][58][59] By defeating James’ Cavaliers team for their championship title – which included winning two road games after being down 2 games to 1 – Golden State joined Boston (1958) as only teams to beat LeBron James’ teams on their home courts for conference/championship titles; both times it was accomplished by winning Game 7s on those courts as well (Boston did so firstly by beating him and his Cavaliers teammates there during Eastern Conference finals en route to defeating Kobe Bryant ‘s Los Angeles Lakers team for 2008 NBA title).[60][61]

The Cleveland Cavaliers

Their regular season record

The Cavaliers finished the 2014-15 regular season with a record of 53-29. They were the second seed in the Eastern Conference and had home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Their post-season record

The Cleveland Cavaliers made their second consecutive NBA Finals appearance in 2015, becoming the first team since the Boston Celtics in 2008 to do so. They finished the regular season with a 53–29 record, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference. In the Playoffs, they defeated the Boston Celtics in four games in the First Round, swept the Atlanta Hawks in four games in the Semifinals, and then defeated the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in six games in the Conference Finals.

The Finals

The 2015 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2014–15 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the conclusion of the season’s playoffs. The Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeated the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in six games (4–2) for the Warriors’ first title in 40 years and their fourth in franchise history, becoming the first team since the 1990–91 Chicago Bulls to win a championship after losing the Finals in the previous year.

The series

The Golden State Warriors entered the 2015 NBA Finals with a regular season record of 67–15, the best in the NBA. Their opponents, the Cleveland Cavaliers, entered the Finals with a 53–29 record, good for second in their conference.

The Cavaliers had beaten the Warriors in all three of their meetings during the regular season. In those games, Cavs guard Kyrie Irving averaged 27.3 points and 5.3 assists per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range; forward LeBron James averaged 25.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game; and forward Kevin Love averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.

The Warriors were led by their “Big Four” of Stephen Curry (26.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6 assists per game), Klay Thompson (21 points per game), Draymond Green (11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game) and Harrison Barnes (11 points per game).

Highlights

In one of the most incredible NBA Finals comebacks in history, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games to claim their first championship in 40 years.

The series was marked by two dramatic comebacks. The first came in Game Three, when the Warriors erased a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 96-91. The second came in the deciding seventh game, when Golden State overcame a six-point deficit with less than three minutes remaining to win 105-97.

Warriors star Stephen Curry was named the Finals MVP after averaging 26.0 points, 5.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.