2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers Season

The Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA championship, the first NBA championship in franchise history. During the regular season, the Cavaliers had the third best team offensive rating and were tenth in team defensive rating in the NBA. During the playoffs, the Cavaliers had the best team offensive rating and were eighth in team defensive rating in the NBA.

In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in four games in the first round, then swept the Atlanta Hawks in four games in the Semi-finals, before finally defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year. There, the Cavaliers faced off against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the team that defeated them in the previous year's NBA Finals in six games, and were coming off of a record-breaking regular season, where the team posted a league-best 73–9 record.

The Cavaliers would go on to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals in seven games, coming back from a 3–1 series deficit to avenge their loss from the prior year. The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to recover from a 3–1 series deficit and win. The Cavaliers' victory also marked the first championship win by a major professional sports team from Cleveland since 1964, ending a 52–year championship drought dating back to the 1964 NFL title won by the Cleveland Browns. The Cleveland Cavaliers would be the first NBA champion to represent the Central Division since the 2003–04 Detroit Pistons.

The Cavaliers started the season strong and rose to the top of the Eastern Conference. However, despite having the best record in their conference, the team fired head coach David Blatt on January 22, 2016. Assistant coach Tyronn Lue took over for the remainder of the season. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 57–25 record and obtained the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2010.

 

In the 2016 NBA Playoffs' first round, the Cleveland Cavaliers matched up against the 8th seed Detroit Pistons. In the first game of their series, Cleveland’s point guard Kyrie Irving led the way scoring 31 points and sealing a win for the Cavaliers, 106-101. The Cavs swept the rest of the series, winning 107-90 in Game 2, 101-91 in Game 3, and 100-98 in Game 4. Kyrie Irving was the top scorer of the series averaging 27.5 points per game, LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers in this series in assist and steals, averaging 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals, and big man Kevin Love led Cleveland in rebounds averaging 12 total rebounds per game. The Cavaliers were matched with the number four seed, Atlanta Hawks, for their second series in the 2015-2016 post-season. Similar to their last series, they swept their opponents 4-0. Lebron James led the way in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game. He also led his team in assists and steals, averaging 7.8 assists and 3 steals per game. Kevin Love was the rebound leader for the series averaging 13 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers were now facing the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. The series between the Raptors and the Cavaliers took 6 games to finish with Cleveland winning 4 to 2. This was the first time in their 2015-2016 playoff run that they lost a game. Lebron James led his team in all major stats against the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 26 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.7 assists in the 6 game series. The Cavaliers were off to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. They were considered huge underdogs because the Warriors had accomplished an incredible feat in the regular season, seventy-three wins and nine losses, the best record ever in the NBA.

The Cavaliers lost three of the first four games of the 2016 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, who had defeated Cleveland in the Finals the year before. The first two games were blowouts for Golden State, 104–89 and 110–77 respectively, combining for a total winning margin of 48. Cleveland would respond with a 120–90 blowout of their own to cut the series deficit to 2–1, but the Warriors would pull away late in Game 4 to take a decisive 3–1 series lead. In turn, the Cavaliers won Games 5 and 6 of the series to bring about a climactic Game 7 at Oracle Arena.

With Game 7 tied at 89–89, LeBron James chased down and blocked Andre Iguodala's attempted lay-up in a play that became known as "The Block." The Cavaliers ultimately won Game 7, 93–89, for the first NBA championship in franchise history. Until then, no team had recovered from a 3–1 deficit in an NBA Finals series. James was named the unanimous NBA Finals MVP, receiving the award for the third time in his career.

This win ended a fifty-two year championship drought in the city of Cleveland, with the last championship that any major sports team had won there being in 1964 when the Cleveland Browns won an NFL season. When the game ended, it was visible the sense of relief that the players felt. Lebron James was the star of the show, and he could not hold his tears back. When he finally got the strength to stand up, the only thing that he was able to say was, "Cleveland, this is for you," as the Oracle Arena blasted with cheers from Cleveland fans. Not only was this a monumental win for the Cleveland Cavaliers, it also cemented Lebron James as one of the all-time greats of the NBA. Prior to this ring, he had only won with the Miami Heat. The win in Cleveland was undoubtedly one of the best basketball performances the NBA has ever seen.

Regular season

Game log

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards

Records

• JR Smith set franchise records in:
  • Three-point field goals in a season: (204)
  • Three-point field goal attempts in a season: (510)
  • Turnover percentage in a season: (6.3%)
  • Three-point field goals in a postseason: (65)
• Tristan Thompson set a franchise record in:
  • Offensive rating in a season: (129.8)

Milestones

• On March 29, Tristan Thompson broke the franchise record of consecutive games with the Cavs, appearing in his 362nd consecutive game.
• The Cavs finished the season first in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2010.
• The Cavs finished first in the Central Division for the second straight season.
• The Cavs became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 deficit and win the NBA Finals.
• The Cavs won the 2016 NBA Finals, ending the city's 52-year championship drought.
• LeBron James famously blocked Andre Iguodala in Game 7. This has been called one of the best plays of his career.
• LeBron James became the third player in NBA history to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
• James also became the first player in NBA history to lead both NBA Finals teams in all five statistical categories for the round.