LeBron James caught the ball and darted up the court as a one-man fast break, just as he’s done so many times over his NBA career. But this time, all the marbles were on the line. It was a trip to the NBA Finals for the eighth season in a row, and James wasn’t about to let the Celtics get in the way. So he whipped right around Marcus Morris, and when Morris grabbed him on both shoulders, James muscled through the contact, converted the layup and got the foul. Then he pounded his chest and let out a deep, furious battle cry. That was the moment this one was over. The Cavaliers may not win another NBA championship year. They’ll have a whole new animal in the winner of the Rockets vs. Warriors Western Conference Finals to deal with first. But defeating the Celtics, 87-79, in Game 7 to advance to the NBA Finals is an accomplishment of itself. Was it the greatest accomplishment of James’ career? That’s up for debate. ESPN’s Doris Burke asked James that very question just a few moments after he’d spent all 48 minutes on the floor willing his team to a victory. As exhausted as James was, he tried to give a complete answer: “A lot is going through my mind right now, Doris. We’ve been counted out from a long time this season. Right around the trade deadline, no matter if we made a trade or not, I kind of just switched my mindset on saying let’s get the most out of this season I can, and I’m determined to get the most I’m trying to squeeze this orange until it’s no more juice left. This is heck of an accomplishment for our ball club, without our all-star power forward as well for basically two games. This team was undefeated in the postseason at home, and for us to do this and for me to be able to lead these guys, it’s a treat.” Sign up for the newsletter Good Morning It’s Basketball NBA news and links delivered to your inbox each weekday, so you never miss out. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email (required) By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Subscribe What all did LeBron have to deal with? The Kyrie Irving trade: This season started off on the wrong foot. Irving reportedly suggested he didn’t want to play with LeBron anymore, forcing the Cavaliers to trade him for the best possible return. We thought Cleveland did well with that trade last summer to Isaiah Thomas , Jae Crowder , Ante Zizic , the Brooklyn pick and a 2020 second-round pick. Now, only the draft picks remain with the team. This season started off on the wrong foot. Irving reportedly suggested he didn’t want to play with LeBron anymore, forcing the Cavaliers to trade him for the best possible return. We thought Cleveland did well with that trade last summer to , , , the Brooklyn pick and a 2020 second-round pick. Now, only the draft picks remain with the team. The Derrick Rose saga: The Cavs signed Rose to a one-year deal in the offseason, and he was supposed to be a solid backup for Thomas. But Rose got hurt, was forced into a walking boot, then reportedly questioned his basketball future. Without Thomas and Rose, Jose Calderon saw minutes at starting point guard for an extended period of time. The Cavs signed Rose to a one-year deal in the offseason, and he was supposed to be a solid backup for Thomas. But Rose got hurt, was forced into a walking boot, then reportedly questioned his basketball future. Without Thomas and Rose, saw minutes at starting point guard for an extended period of time. Oh boy, Isaiah Thomas : Thomas wasn’t healthy to start the season, and the Cavs knew this. He had a hip injury that he opted to rehab without surgery, and it kept him out until Jan. 2. But even in his return, he was shooting his way into game shape. And his occasional offensive bursts weren’t nearly enough to compensate for his stature, weakness on defense, and public criticism of Tyronn Lue’s coaching adjustments. Cleveland went 7-8 in games Thomas played in, including several blowout defeats. That all led itself to... Thomas wasn’t healthy to start the season, and the Cavs knew this. He had a hip injury that he opted to rehab without surgery, and it kept him out until Jan. 2. But even in his return, he was shooting his way into game shape. And his occasional offensive bursts weren’t nearly enough to compensate for his stature, weakness on defense, and public criticism of Tyronn Lue’s coaching adjustments. Cleveland went 7-8 in games Thomas played in, including several blowout defeats. That all led itself to... The roster blow-up: Yup, the Cavaliers blew everything up midseason. They traded Thomas and Channing Frye to the Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Cleveland sent Crowder and Rose to the Jazz for Rodney Hood , then traded Iman Shumpert to Sacramento for George Hill. Finally, the Cavs sent Dwyane Wade back to Miami for a second-round pick they probably won’t ever get. Yup, the Cavaliers blew everything up midseason. They traded Thomas and to the Lakers for and Cleveland sent and Rose to the Jazz for , then traded to Sacramento for George Hill. Finally, the Cavs sent back to Miami for a second-round pick they probably won’t ever get. Kevin Love ’s injury: Oh, did you forget? Love broke his left hand in a Jan. 30 matchup against the Pistons and missed a total of 21 games. Somehow, the Cavs went 11-10 without their All-Star forward. He also missed Games 6 and 7 of the East Finals with a concussion. Oh, did you forget? broke his left hand in a Jan. 30 matchup against the Pistons and missed a total of 21 games. Somehow, the Cavs went 11-10 without their All-Star forward.<doc-sep>The Cleveland Cavaliers are going back to the NBA Finals, making it the eighth straight trip to the Finals for LeBron James. The Cavs knocked off the Boston Celtics in Game 7 to earn a spot in the Finals. Virginia fans will see a familiar face as former Wahoo superstar London Perrantes is traveling with the team for the playoffs and got a chance to celebrate in the locker room with his teammates and this big ass trophy: 4 more. #WhateverItTakes #TheLand A post shared by London Perrantes (@londontyus) on May 27, 2018 at 10:35pm PDT You can briefly see LP in the background here at about the 1:00 mark of this video: The Cavaliers will face the winner of tonight’s Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. Good luck, London!<doc-sep>Image : Wikimedia / Noah Salzman Oakland’s Golden State Warriors won Game 1 of the NBA Finals Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it’s still anyone’s championship. Advertisement Game 2 of the series kicks off Sunday evening at 8pm ET, followed by Game 3 at 9pm on June 6th, and Game 4 on Friday, June 8th. If the Warriors don’t win all four of those games (which they most likely won’t), then the series continues until one team has won four games. The optional games are June 11 at 9pm , June 14 at 9pm , and June 17th at 8pm . If you want to catch LeBron taking on Steph Curry you’ve got a few options: TV The easiest way to catch the NBA Finals is to tune into ABC for the event. You can watch the games without a cable subscription as long as you have a digital antenna capable of picking up ABC. ESPN Both ESPN’s website and the Watch ESPN app will offer a livestream of the games, but in order to watch them you need to have your own (or borrow a friend’s) cable log-in. Advertisement Streaming Services Luckily, most of the TV-replacement streaming services offer ABC, so if you’re a subscriber to any of those then you’re probably in the clear. Be sure to check that ABC is offered as a streaming option in your city before game time just in case. Advertisement Streaming services that offer access to ABC include Hulu With Live TV, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, and YouTube TV. All of those run between $25 and $40 a month, with Sling coming in the cheapest at $25 a month. All of them also offer free trial options, so if you’re not a subscriber you can still get access for a game or two for free as long as you remember to cancel the trial before a subscription starts.<doc-sep>We've had time to process the unforgettable storylines from a wacky, scintillating Game 1 -- one it sort of felt like the Cavs needed after becoming the rare opponent to hang at Oracle Arena in Game 1: • An absolutely magisterial performance from LeBron James. This dude is operating on another plane of existence. He is thinking one and two steps ahead of the league's smartest defense. When LeBron forced the Warriors to switch Stephen Curry onto him, he bulldozed. When he forced them to switch centers onto him, LeBron drove around them or stepped back for jumpers. Early in the third quarter, he dusted JaVale McGee, spotted Draymond Green sliding off Kevin Love in the near corner, and tossed a no-look bounce pass through his own freaking legs to set Love up for an open 3. Editor's Picks Lowe Post: Windhorst on JR, officiating, LeBron Lowe: Behind the scenes of a tense and wacky NBA draft lottery 1 Related (Love missed. The Cavs went 6-for-20 on wide-open 3s. There is the sense that everything but the officiating went right for Cleveland in Game 1, that they lost anyway, and that an avalanche is coming in Game 2. That may be. But they can hope for a reversal in two trends: their own 3-point shooting, and Golden State's low number of turnovers. Golden State came close to a 50/40/90 game -- around their average, unbelievably -- with just seven turnovers, and still required overtime to win. Unfortunately, Cleveland is a passive, unathletic defense that rarely forces turnovers. Their hope for more amounts to hoping the Warriors have one of those silly games where they vomit the ball all over the floor.) I've seen it suggested the Warriors switch less. In some cases, that is fair; they gave in without battling. On other trips, they fought. Do you think they want to expose Curry to LeBron's bludgeoning? Very often, the Cavs forced the switch. They forced it with canny, unpredictable screening, but also by leveraging the paranoia LeBron inspires with even one quarter-step advantage. Want Kevin Durant to fight over picks? Cool. Know that if said screen so much as nudges Durant, LeBron is gone. Want Curry to hedge more violently? Remember this, from last year's Finals? When LeBron sensed the Warriors overeager to switch, he faked toward a pick, baited both defenders into lunging that way, and bolted the other direction. When the Warriors (a little surprisingly) risked some Shaun Livingston-on-LeBron minutes while Durant rested, LeBron pancaked him. He made 10 of 11 free throws. He loped into 3-pointers. It was almost a perfect offensive game. More than that, it was brilliant -- a combination of physical ability, anticipation, and mental dexterity no player has ever matched. And they lost. • J.R. Smith's brain fart, maybe the stinkiest brain fart in NBA history considering the stakes. • The shaky officiating. The Cavs justifiably will never get over the officials deciding to review whether LeBron's feet were in the restricted area, even though anyone with functioning eyes could tell they were not -- and even if the officials landed on the correct call in the end. At least the league didn't suspend Love for Game 2. That would have been criminal. Beyond that, here are two X's-and-O's areas to watch in Game 2: Kevin Love's defense The Cavs came in with a sound game plan: • Start big, with both Love and Tristan Thompson. • Switch almost everything, on and off the ball, so LeBron doesn't have to defend Durant the entire game. If that Houston-style switching coaxes Durant into some stagnant post-ups against Smith and George Hill, live with it. Invite it. • Avoid switching Love onto Curry in the pick-and-roll -- trap instead -- but be ready to adapt if that fails. And it kinda failed. Asking a bad defensive team to obey a long and sometimes conflicting set of rules usually does. On multiple early possessions, the Cavs appeared confused over how they were supposed to handle Curry targeting Love: Thompson seems to expect a switch when Jordan Bell screens for Curry. But Love stunts out to Curry, chest parallel to the sideline, as if to cut Curry off and recover back to Bell. Thompson sees that, and hovers nearby -- leaving nobody on Bell for an absurd length of time. Cleveland eventually gave up and decided to switch everything. At first, Love gave Curry too much space. This is death: NBA Any big man who tries to stay in front of Curry will fall into this trap of backpedaling below the 3-point arc when Curry jab steps. The solution is not to even try and stay in front of him: NBA The Spurs pioneered this: Attach yourself to Curry's side, and force him to drive. Curry is elite at that, too. By the end of game, he stopped dancing with Love and just blew right by him. (Side note: I wonder if the Warriors should let Curry do that, without any screen, when the Cavs guard him with Jordan Clarkson/Crawford or Jeff Green.) But Golden State almost always has two nonshooters on the floor, allowing opponents to clog Curry's driving lanes by sending help off of those guys. The Warriors have enough playmakers to pass and cut around this gambit. Still: It is often the best of bad choices. The Cavaliers need Love's shooting and garbage buckets. As I wrote in previewing the series, there is some appeal in cutting Love's role to go all defense with a lineup of Hill, Smith, LeBron, Green and Thompson. But that lineup won't score enough to keep up, and with Smith and Green, it isn't good enough defensively to work as some sort of Warriors stopper. Tyronn Lue played it for two minutes of Game 1. He played Love at center for 13 minutes, usually with Hill, Smith, Green and LeBron -- a group that brings the possibility of two-way play. Love did his best on defense, and provided 21 must-have points despite missing seven of eight 3s. The Warriors weirdly opened the game with Kevon Looney on Love (and Draymond Green on Thompson).<doc-sep>
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 06: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers speaks to the media after being defeated by the Golden State Warriors during Game Three of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 6, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 110-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) Cleveland Browns: Earning stripes is not an incentive by Ryan Rosko Four passes as the Cleveland Cavaliers are on the brink of elimination in the 2018 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. 1. This is the end. No team’s ever come a 0-3 deficit in the NBA Finals. The Warriors have four future hall of famers. The Cavs have the greatest player in the world. It’s not nearly enough. Even after a stellar first half from the Cavaliers, it was hard to get comfortable at intermission. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had combined for five points, yet Cleveland’s lead was 58-52. The whole idea of the Warriors stinks. A lot of people feel this way, but we’re betting off yelling clouds because our opinions don’t matter. Golden State built its roster within the rules. They drafted well, acquiring Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green through their own due dilligence. And then they got lucky. The one year they needed cap space, they got it, thanks largely to Curry not being on a max contract in the summer of 2016. Throw in Kevin Durant deciding to take the easy way out, and they’re a team everyone in the league is trying to hunt down. The NBA was robbed of a brilliant rivalry when Durant decided to ride the coattails of Curry and Klay. Remember back to how awesome the 2016 Finals were. Throw 2015 in there, too. These were hard fought series, and maybe more so in 2016, because the Cavs were so devastated by injuries in 2015, either team had a chance to win. The Cavs-Warriors matchup in The Finals got me thinking of other times a team came up short against the same team in a championship. All I could come up with the Brooklyn Dodgers-New York Yankees rivalry of the 1950s. Brooklyn and the Yankees played six times for the right to be called World Series champs from 1949-1956. This was before free agency, and the Yankees made few mistakes. For instance, Joe DiMaggio retired, and who took over? in center Mickey Mantle. The Cavs got their one, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 Finals By winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. LikeCleveland turned the basketball world on its head. Draymond Greene got on the phone and cried to Durant how much he was needed. The NBA was robbed an awesome rivalry, but that’s the NBA. No sport can be impacted by free agency like roundball. And no one ever saw Durant to Golden State coming. It stinks, but there’s no changing it. Until the Warriors break up or a another super team is formed, this is the world of basketball. 2. Love’s almost all-time great game Kevin Love‘s almost greatest game: As Kevin Love compiled a double-double in the first half, scoring 15 points and hauling in 10 rebounds, I thought to myself: This is the best he’s played in four years. He was assertive. He was making threes. He was putting the ball on the floor and driving to the rim. And then he disappeared. Love scored five more points in the second half. He finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Love drew a lot of heat in The Factory to play like a superstar. He did…for a half. Love’s under contract for two more years at $50 million. He’s still a very good player, especially in the regular season. The Cavs must explore trading him, although I’m not sure the return would be all that impressive. 3. LeBron’s Decision 2.0 set to hit DEFCON-1 The four-letter network is unbearable to watch as hosts spew “infotainment,” and I definitely won’t be watching in the coming days as producers and anchors try to diefiy Kevin Durant for joining up with three Hall of Famers. There’s going to be a lot of LeBron talk to, as in, where he’ll play next season. Don’t see LeBron going out West, because he’ll have to contend with Golden State in the conference Finals.