2015 NBA Finals

The 2015 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2014–15 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven series, the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeated the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, winning their first championship since 1975, and fourth overall. The Warriors' Andre Iguodala was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), after he averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and was the main defender on LeBron James for the series. He became the first and only player to win the award without starting every game of the series. Iguodala received seven out 11 votes; the other four went to James, who played in his fifth consecutive Finals appearance. The series began on June 4 and ended on June 16. In the opening game, the Warriors won in overtime, a game which saw Kyrie Irving's knee injury. In another tight game decided in overtime, the Cavaliers, aided by James's offense, withstood the injuries of the Cavaliers' principal players Irving and Kevin Love and won Game 2 before ultimately taking a 2–1 series lead. Entering Game 4, the Warriors head coach Steve Kerr inserted Iguodala into the starting lineup and moved Draymond Green to the center position. With this new lineup, Warriors went on to win three straight games to clinch the NBA championship. In a losing effort, James became the first player in NBA Finals history to lead both teams in points, rebounds, and assists for the entire series, after averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game. A first-time NBA champion, Stephen Curry was the last NBA MVP to win an NBA championship in the same season until Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025. This was also the last...